Moonbase Commander

Queer visibility in hip-hop has begun to reshape the identity of a genre built on safe-guarding its hyper-masculine ideals. Cakes Da Killa has made a career out of putting his talents ahead of played-out taboos, never looking to pacify the primitive notions that pit rap game machismo against gay male expression.

If anything, Cakes' scrappy wordplay and merciless flow challenges the ignorance of the mainstream head on, strengthening his presence with a constant flow of material, not to mention an unforgettable appearance on Hot 97 last year.

Cakes has since taken a break from the hip-house heartbreaks on his recent EP #IMF to introduce "Serve It Up", a new single off his Hunger Pangs (Deluxe Edition) mixtape.

Moonbase Commander's heavy production is laced with swirling, arpeggiated synth lines and gloppy 808 beats, reminiscent of the Neptunes early 2000s takeover. It's a playground perfect for Cakes to spit with intensity, putting "straight" male egos in check with lines like, "Trade get outta pocket, gotta block and delete that," all while jet-setting through Melbourne where he finds himself "pussy poppin on a cop car," which really doesn’t seem that out of the ordinary for him. The chorus finds Cakes repeating "Imma serve it up don’t trip/ Imma serve it up like this," a friendly reminder to the rap game that he's ready to take it over. - Pitchfork

Earlier this year, Sydney producer, Moonbase Commander, received Pitchfork’s ‘Best New Track‘ for his fiery collaboration with American rapper, Cakes Da Killa, titled “Serve It Up”. The revered outlet touted Moonbase Commander’s heavy approach and even likened his clean-lined style to that of The Neptunes — high praise, and honestly, fully warranted. Now heading into the end of 2015, the Australian beatsmith plans to carry on the momentum from “Serve It Up”, with heaps of new material divided up over two EPs slated for release on October Records.

“Southpaw” acts as the first taste of what’s to come from Moonbase Commander in coming months. A heavy-handed, hip hop beat, “Southpaw” is ferocious and bold with swarms of gritty bass and polished percussion. MBC tells Nest HQ about the single over email —

“Southpaw” came from a place of movement. Like a lot of the content on the EP, I designed the track from the ground up, trying to distance myself from having a concrete endpoint and keeping within the moment of creation. What I ended up with was a palette of raw, abrasive textures and gnashing, untreated sound. Quite simply, Southpaw is a fight song.

Rarely do you hear of electronic music, or instrumentals for that matter, labeled as “fight songs”, but it’s easy to see where MBC’s head is at here. “Southpaw” isn’t evil per se, but it does have combative tendencies through its aggressive, primal hits that’ll have your fists clenched and blood pressure elevated.

Give it a listen below, and follow Moonbase Commander on Soundcloud to stay up with his release schedule this fall and winter. - NestHQ

Moonbase Commander isn’t exactly a stranger to the FBi airwaves. He’s been evolving his sound and perfecting his technique for a while now, but Greyhound marks a serious levelling up.

It takes the tropes of drum ‘n’ bass, a genre that I was foolish enough to think had done it’s dash, and breathes new life into it. The result is a dark and dank club banger that works just as well on the radio waves as it does at 3am on the dancefloor. - Tone Deaf