MOG Editorial Review

Plenty of producers have arranged samples to create a beautiful electronic collage, but no one ever did with a true sense of hip-hop flair before Prefuse 73 unleashed Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives in 2001. Scott Herren has chopped up samples beyond recognition to achieve something that felt equal parts techno and hip-hop, and repeated samples play against each other to create a unique sound on cuts like "Life Death." More astoundingly, Herren's jarring splices and tempo changes end up making your head nod despite how impossible it seems, and the end result was a new experimental shot in the arm for cratedigging DJs everywhere.