Four Tet and Madlib have released “Hopprock” the second single from their upcoming collaborative album Sound Ancestors,which is set for release some time this month. “Hopprock” combines the signature sampling of Madlib, with psychedelic and distorted moments, that are contrasted with Four Tets experimental electronica. By the time the beat drops in at around the minute mark, the track goes into an experimental hip hop style, with smooth beats, eclectic samples and a groovy riff to top it off.

“I put this concept to him when we were hanging out eating some nice food one day and we decided to work on this together with him sending me tracks, loops, ideas and experiments that I would arrange, edit, manipulate and combine,” Four Tet explained when the project was announced. “I was sent hundreds of pieces of music over a couple of years stretch and during that time I put together this album with all the parts that fitted with my vision.”

Four Tet has been keeping busy, releasing two new albums Parallel and 871 on Christmas day. These two records follow his EP titled in wingdings and an album release called Sixteen Oceans, which came out in early 2020. He also teamed up with Burial and Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke for “Her Revolution” and “His Rope.”

Madlib was busy throughout 2020 as well, releasing a special version of Bandana for Record Store Day last year. Bandana is his 2019 collaborative record with rapper Freddie Gibbs and was accompanied by an instrumental release in 2020. He also teamed up with Oh No last year for the collaborative record The Professionals.

Photo Credit: Sharon Alagna