The release of DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing in 1996, in tandem with projects from J Dilla, Nujabes, and Madlib, (amongst others in the 2000s) gave rise to the rap instrumental auteur, beat-crafters who cultivated atmospheres with their productions that stand alone from an MC’s verses.

This is the environment in which a producer like Slim The Chemist thrives, who with little more than an MPC and an arsenal of obscure records, creates their own instrumental opuses with no need for vocal interjection. Slim’s production hits hard on his newest EP Perspective, but in a way that gains potency from its subtlety. The percussion he programs is propulsive, but mixes in with the other instrumental layers in a creeping manner rather than dominating the tracks. Meanwhile, his samples are oftentimes rooted in jazz, but immediately spread their wings and allow other musical genres to course through its contents, whether it be the psychedelic flourishes enhancing the atmosphere of opening track Flora tenfold, the tribal energy of Beat47, or the haunting quality of Matress which sounds like it is disintegrating as you listen to it.

Slim The Chemist stated themselves that the idea of this EP was to, “capture different life moments through samples I found in various periods in time” and makes this musically apparent throughout the Perspective EP, as fragile melodies that sound like the result of fabricated memories are lent a dusty grit coupled with downtempo percussion and stirring production flourishes. Slim The Chemist has put together an EP that although short, is endlessly evocative and replayable.