Chill Hop

You may have already been introduced to Birocratic's (New York-by-New Jersey producer Brandon Rowan) intriguing genre of instrumental hip hop without realizing it: his beats have scored BuzzFeed, What's Trending, and Julien Solomita videos.

His early album Beets (2013) - which must have been produced while he was a student at NYU's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music - consists of six tracks: "orientation", "wants to", "merlot", "atari dreams", "square one" and "stay gold". The use of lush, truncated vocal samples and old school hip hop drums throughout the album creates a relaxed, tranquil atmosphere that is complex and dynamic enough to intrigue and sustain anticipation for what's to come. Rowan proves himself to be a master at beat-making and scene-setting, putting his multi-instrumental (guitar, bass, piano, and drums) skills to great use.

Birocratic's excellent ambience-setting music might just serve as a backdrop to videos, coffee shops, and 'hip' office settings for now, but collaborations with the right kind of vocalists and lyricists may just propel him further into the mainstream. "since you've asked"  - a track from Beets 2 (2013) hints at the greater things that may lie ahead for Birocratic. But I doubt his fans will mind the wait - the current sonic atmosphere already has plenty to offer.