While juke and ghettotech find their footing within the largely house-tempo scene of clubs outside of their native city, tracks such as ‘Love U’ with DJ Lucky set the bar for the genres. The result is a melancholy and nostalgic collection of appropriations being crammed and jostled by Rashad and his collaborators, the samples whipped into line and hustled relentlessly into new contortions.Īs an album Just A Taste is exactly that – just a taste of what will really come together when these ten cuts are inserted into a mixed context. Juke’s constant tensing and relaxing of metre throughout the album adds to the drama these samples give to the tracks, flipping between half time, double time and triplet breakdowns in an intense push-pull effect. Gil Scott-Heron’s ‘Home Is Where The Hatred Is’ features prominently in ‘I’m Gone’, the entire chorus left intact, as is Bobby Caldwell’s ‘What You Won’t Do For Love’, providing the body for the dramatic standout ‘Ghetto Tekz Runnin It’. However, strong soul songs are sampled throughout and left largely untouched beyond looping, in a move that will certainly distinguish these tracks in a mix.
The familiar juke trademarks of repeated vocal grabs, pitchshifted samples and room-pounding 808 drums are all present. To finish off 2010 and see in 2011, Chicago juke and ghettotech forerunner DJ Rashad drops Just A Taste, a ten-tracker that sees him mulling over more emotional territory.
Although still a fairly alien sound in the UK, it is safe to say that juke has influenced some of the most interesting releases from British producers of the last year.