Myles Joseph is a music producer based in DC, USA. “Trans-Emotional” is his fifth album under his Smyles alias, after the debut in 2018 with “Sure, Yeah”. He describes himself as a one-man producer looking to add color to your day. Smyles' music is hip hop, colorful, fun, warm, organic, full of diverse and rich references. In the brand new "Trans-Emotional", Smyles puted out 10 songs, each one representing its own little storyline that is based on his own experiences with women.
Words by Marco Guerra
Discovered via http://musosoup.com
By listening to Smyles music, it comes to my mind stuff like The Avalanches, Mr. Scruff, Aim or the album “Beats, Vol. I: Amor” of my countryman Sam The Kid. Above all because of the way it is used, it seems to me, the sampling technique. An extremely effective “cut and paste” method that produces that fresh and innovative sound result for our ears. In "Trans-Emotional", Smyles teaches us a good mood lesson, with loads of coolness. "A Kween's World" opens the album with a tribute to the smoky jazz of the 1920s, with a warmth of Latin percussion. “This Hoochie, That Nigga” follows the tone, hot, organic and with the hip hop contagious beat. “Estoy Borracha, Sin Riñón” is all about salsa rhythms, with soul vocals on the top. “Moan For Me xxx” inevitably has some naughty samples that go along with the cool, warm and vintage beat. On “Vagina Poetry”, a woman says repeatedly: “you wanna own my pussy, celebrate my pussy, you wanna shave my pussy, if you like my pussy”. The message is strong but the music maintains its coolness, sunny as a Lisbon summer afternoon.
“Catch My Toxic” has one foot in Jamaica and the other one might be around New Orleans. The beginning of “You Better Hit Hit” is a mix of vocals that were recorded by Smyles’ friends, a delicious salad cooked with viola and flute that reminds us of (also) hot Brazil. “Bad Girl, Good Relationship” is a Cuba meets Brazil mashup, a beat with a strong clap that makes us dance ‘till the end of time. “God In My Veins” has a whole lot of vocal sampling and also clapping. A soul female voice sings on most of the song, but here and there we have more voices, that seems they were detuned on purpose by pitch reducing. The album ends with "Suicide Schedule", which starts with a powerful electric guitar riff but quickly aligns with the cool and warm tone of the rest of the album. Although in the middle a more serious message appears: “I can believe suicide is on my fucking mind".
"Trans-Emotional" is a whole cocktail of references and sampling, which reveals an artistic sensibility and technical refinement that very few master. An album to enjoy from beginning to end, where each song is a short story that belongs to a greater narrative. Irresistible!