Dummy Mix 153 // Faze Miyake
Faze Miyake is a grime producer from East London who really broke through when his instrumental Take Off came out in 2011. Its swaggering bassline and cascading drums took on Lex Luger, specifically the domineering Rick Ross hits B.M.F. and MC Hammer, and quickly became a first choice for DJs and MCs. It signalled a muscular development on the incumbent Woo Riddim and his signature style – his label is called Woofer Music and his producer trademark is a pack of dogs barking – was fully established.
Faze Miyake isn’t the only person using the rapidly spreading patterns of trap music from the American South, but while he can be aligned with producers like Baauer his influences also go further back to local influences Wiley, Skepta and Ruff Sqwad. He is also a key part of the Family Tree collective and – alongside fellow producer Splurt Diablo and MCs like Merky Ace, MIK, Ego and Shiftman – has helped bring back some raw aggression and black humour to the grime scene in the past couple of years.
His mix for Dummy is strictly instrumental, and stays rooted in the UK. Most of the tracks are by Faze Miyake himself, featured alongside heavy hitters from Sukh Knight, Rude Kid, Mr. Mitch and more. We also caught up with him to have a quick chat about his influences and future plans, which can be read alongside the tracklist below.
Hi, Faze Miyake. How are you?
I’m good thanks.
How’s your year been so far, you produced Kozzie’s latest single Skitz right?
That’s my main release out at the moment. It’s more of a quick single to get out early in the year but we’ve gotten some good feedback on it.
The type of sound on Skitz is the one people would most associate with you, with a big trap influence.
Well, I mainly listen to U.S hip hop but I keep a strong UK influence in my music. A lot of rap from America is actually on the same tempo as grime so it’s more natural. That’s really the reason why I got into it and started using the style. It might not sound identical but the drum patterns are the same: my sound is more heavy and weighty and focuses on the drums rather than synths or bass like dubstep.
It’s also become a common style for the whole of Family Tree.
Yeh, Family Tree are the team – they’re the first MCs I ever worked with.
Going back, it seems like the Spartan Remix was an important step for your generation of MC’s and producers.
Definitely. When I first came around, that was the biggest sound and the biggest tune.
Who are you listening to now?
Well I still listen to the older producers but I like Swifter, Shift Key, ƱZ, LOUDPVCK, Darq E Freaker and Rude Kid at the moment. Baauer too, from the start, he’s been playing my tracks out from even before Harlem Shake came out.
What are your plans for the rest of the year?
I’ve got my album coming out on Rinse, sometime this summer or even a bit sooner. It’s gonna be a full release with mostly new material. I’ve got so much old stuff that hasn’t been properly released so I wanted to use one or two of those but its mainly fresh unheard stuff, I wanted to make something new. Same with the vocals – it will feature Family Tree but new voices too, a few suprises. Apart from that I’ll be playing live around the country from the Rinse Winter Tour and I’m going to be at Outlook Festival in the summer too.
Tracklist
Tanika – Casualty (Faze Miyake remix)
Rude Kid – Next Saturday
Faze Miyake – Johnny Quid
Sukh Knight – Homicide
Faze Miyake – Firefly
Footsie – Unknown
Faze Miyake – Tesla
Shift Key – Dance
Faze Miyake – Burciaga
Darkness – Derpina Derpington
Faze Miyake – Dr Pepper
Rude Kid – School Bell
Footsie – Unknown 2
Faze Miyake – Bucket Hat
Faze Miyake & Jack Mason – Billy Blang
Mr. Mitch – Viking
