MERK

What do ’80s new wave, Fetty Wap’s ad-libs, and space-age pop production have in common? Not much, trick question. But these elements of musical ephemera are somehow unified under MERK’s aesthetic on their debut EP, Loud, premiering today. Over the course of five tracks, MERK develops a blown-out, post-apocalyptic, post-genre sound, but also subverts any attempt at categorization at every turn. Just when you think you have them nailed down as poppy, Auto-Tuned riddim crooners singing about popping bands over a funk bassline by the end of opening track “Fire,” track two, “Shout,” drops a Tears for Fears interpolation right in your face. The eclectic spiral continues track after track, building towards “System,” which brings the verse most recognizable as rap. But it’s still tugged by a moaning background loop, pitched and elongated vocals every fourth bar. MERK is trying to fuck up the system. And they’re succeeding.

Though eclecticism is a key feature, there’s still a very unified aesthetic coming across, which is in itself impressive for a group of unknowns. With all the industry plant speculations going around this year—and one key accused, Raury, also sporting a progressive, genre-blending sound—we tried to dig for as much information on the collective as we could. But there’s not much there beyond a few singles floating around the web. When reached for comment, they were reluctant to pin themselves down, but adamant about one thing: MERK is a family. They’re 5-deep, and have ties to Harlem and Miami. “We want to create an existential crisis for hip-hop,” one member spoke for the group. “We have built a system of production that resembles a kind conveyor belt that circles around all of us. We each lean in different stylistic directions—such as hip hop, pop, and rock n roll—but ultimately every record goes through this formula we’ve developed, defining us more as an in-house production factory than anything else.”

Keeping it all in the family production-wise has worked well for groups like A$AP, a clear inspiration for MERK, as well as groups like Awful Records within the past year. It allows them to do what they’re best at: develop and refine their image, before anyone’s even heard the record, then come out of the gates swinging and continue to build organically. Rumor swirling around the group is there’s plenty more MERK music coming down the conveyor belt in 2016. Let’s hope they keep it loud. - Mass Appeal

MERK's new track moves through two different modes. The first features the kind of production that dominates rap at the moment, but the second is more unusual, centering on a loping kick-drum beat. "Double Edged Sword is representative of MERK as hip-hop’s apocalyptic avant-garde," the band told The FADER in an email. "Its effect is to induce an identity crisis in the genre by infiltrating it with the iconoclasm of rock 'n' roll. The title suggests this hybridity that cuts both ways: pleasure and pain in the same dose."
This is the bonus track to the group's recently released EP. Listen below, and check out the rest of the project here. - The Fader

Premiered ep on vice music beats one radio - Beats one x Vice