BACOMARTINEZ & Bart Buurman - BALLON D'OR

Got into this tape around the same time as I heard DJ Candy for the first time, and was a pretty pivotal time in my music experience when it dropped. I remember hearing about it through retweets from many of the members of NO CLUE which I was really into at the time; CRUZIN, Noah and EYESWIDESHUT occupying my shitty car stereo for many a late night drive. From there I found Bart behind a lot of my favourite beats from the group, heard about his collab with the already-prolific baco, and the rest was history. This one was really eye-opening to me at the time, enamoured by how much forward momentum the whole tape carried and how every beat bounced, interspersed with great features dishing up different moods throughout. It was the sampling first that caught my ear, solidifying a love of finely chopped soulful vocals, with every kick ducking and crispy hihat or shaker slightly off. But it was also the range of source material, flipping everything from spiritual piano embellishments to sunny hits of horns that would’ve felt at home in the OG Petestrumentals. It’s so impressive this came together with the cohesion that it did, only later finding that most of the tape is a blend of tracks each of them produced individually, complimenting each other where the whole piece comes together brilliantly. The tape moves like a knee slide, every beat doused in celebration like you’re playing the greatest football game of your life. I’ve played it countless times over the last couple years and has deeply affected my taste in music, so I’ve gotta thank both of them for that.

KEY BEAT: heart_mind_soul - this one sounds like 2002 Ronaldinho hitting the back of the net against England, the final celebration in a tape full of successes as the watery synths and beautiful hand-plucked guitar move in unison. Also those triple kicks at the start of every bar are insane.