BAM (a.k.a. Afrika Baby Bam) of the legendary ‘90s hip-hop group 'THE JUNGLE BROTHERS' and Austrian DJ and producer MR.DERO team up to take the positive hip hop vibes of the Native Tongues Era to 2014.

First comes „THIS“, then comes „THAT“, then finally the album „THIS & THAT“. Legendary Jungle Brothers MC Bam and Austrian producer Mr.Dero joined forces on their EP/LP trilogy: Rump-shaking grooves, a little bit of reggae and Bam's laid-back rap performance bring a breath of fresh air to a rap scene that's increasingly bored of monotonuos trap productions.

As one might remember: Hip hop started out at a party. Fat beats for the summer and raps that are not all about bragging, but turning the party out – that's the flavour Bam & Mr.Dero go for on their collabo trilogy „THIS & THAT“.

Both of them know perfectly well what they're doing: Austrian hip hop enthusiast Mr.Dero has been spinning, producing and organizing club nights for seventeen years now and knows what's moving urban dancefloors. And Bam (aka Afrika Baby Bam)? He's nothing short of a living legend. As a part of New York rap crew The Jungle Brothers he helped creating a movement that still has an impact on hip hop culture today: the Native Tongues. Together with fellow artists A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul and Queen Latifah the JBeez started a positive, good-humored, yet consciuos counter movement against all those grimey looking, gold chain wearing bad boy rappers that still influences young artists today. On top of that Bam and the Jbeez took a chance at a musical crossover that's been unheard of in those days: With their track „I'll House You“ they combined hip hop and house music and created a style that still resonates in contemporary EDM: hip house.

In their transatlantic collabo project Bam & Mr.Dero picked up that thread and produced tracks that are as dope as danceable. Since they met and became friends at one of Dero's club nights they've been working together to bring back that positive vibe from the Native Tongue era in a very original fashion. Catchy production with a heavy bass, soulful grooves, feelgood vibes and Bam, who's definitely having fun in the booth – that's „THIS“, their first EP.

Already the first single „On & On“, a feelgood block party anthem aiming directly at the dance floor, had a heavy impact in the blogosphere. „Work That“, the video single with its driving disco groove, reminisces the late 70's, „Take My Heart“ mixes up funk, reggae and hip hop to create a real summer hit. Based on a classic b-boy breakbeat, „The Weekend“ comes with jamaican off-beats skanks, while „Yes You Can“ combines dub'ish sounds and a classic shout-and-response call. And „Dance“ sounds exactly as it's named, an uptempo track aimed at the dance floor.

The Music Video ''Work That''

Where there is a „THIS“, there should also be a „THAT“, and so this first EP is only the beginning of a series of releases to come. The follow-up EP „THAT“ will be released in february next year, directly succeeded by the full-length and bonus-stuffed album „THIS & THAT“. The whole series of releases is accompanied by a caringly executed visual campaign that's not only another record cover artwork, but a piece of art by itself.
Bam & Mr.Dero know perfectly well what they are doing. And on top of that, they love what they do. You can see, hear and feel that. And the world's dance floors will prove them right. 

The Artwork of the Project

Bam & Mr. Dero were looking for an innovative visual concept for their trilogy project. Simon Lemmerer and Stefan Leitner, both luminarites in the sectors Installation Design and Photography, seemed to be the right choice. Same as Martin Reicht, who contributed the quality making of video.

Their original idea was to create an anamorphic installation of the two words with different colors and plotted letters. However, soon they realized that it would be way to complex to install the entire words, so they ended up in just creating the initial letters of the words and the ampersand.

Additionally the concept has been adapted. The whole production team rescued old instruments and other music equipment from the junkyard or picked up non-repairable instruments from collectors and music stores.

Subsequently they constructed the individual glyphs by positioning the various objects in the room. They chose different colors for each photo set, meaning each cover. The majority of the objects were suspended from the ceiling with nylon threads. The letters were printed on tracing paper and placed in front oft he camera. Then we positioned the objects live on the camera screen and afterwards placed them in the room.

Gallery - click on the photos to browse through

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