Within the twenty-tens, when you discovered your self listening to artists like Rae Sremmurd, Wiz Khalifa and Lil Wayne, you had been in good firm. So did Tape B, the barnstorming dubstep and bass music producer who’s channeling the nostalgia of their timeless hip-hop to domesticate his beloved “Old School x New School” model.
Tape B’s actual identify is Kemal Berk Alkanat, although he’ll introduce himself as Berk since his first and center names received switched within the midst of his transfer from Turkey at simply three years outdated. Now 26, the DJ has discovered himself on a snowballing trajectory to superstardom.
Although his steps into digital music’s limelight are pretty latest, Alkanat has been producing music for 10 years. Which means his Tape B mission was nicely underway on the younger age of 16. Nevertheless it wasn’t till lately—via a pandemic-spurred transfer residence to Boca Raton, Florida—that Alkanat had a lightbulb second resulting in his now-signature sound.
“I was in this rut where I can make good music but I just don’t know who I am or what kind of music Tape B is,” he recollects in an interview backstage on the dazzling Breakaway Competition in Minnesota.
By means of listening to dubstep from the enduring UKF channel together with a great deal of SoundCloud rap, Alkanat says he skilled an epiphany of kinds, deciding to remix the music he used to hearken to in highschool since he was residence and “everything felt nostalgic” on the time. Because it turned out, including newfangled sounds to long-since popularized tracks appeared to suit what he needed: a vibe of his personal.
“It clicked immediately after I made the first three,” he recollects. “I was like, ‘Yo, I’m actually pretty good at making these remixes.'”
Although the songs he reworks are pretty recognizable amongst followers, Alkanat provides, he chooses their material primarily based off of his personal notion of nostalgia.
“I always try to keep it something niche to me where no one else is remixing it,” he says.
As his music grows more and more in style music, Alkanat highlights one other aspect that has change into a signature: vowel bass, the deep and growling sound he endearingly refers to as “the yoys.” This slithering sound is within the underbelly of his fan-favorite remix of PEEKABOO and LYNY’s entice hit “Like That.”
Alkanat acknowledges that followers are beginning to affiliate his identify with vowel bass, however he needs followers to know that he adopted the sound out of respect to its progenitors.
“I feel like I did play a part in bringing that sound back, but it’s just been such an iconic sound for decades,” he explains, crediting dubstep icons Zeds Lifeless and Physician P with its popularization.
Although the seismic sound is in a lot of his wobbly hybrid music, Alkanat strives to maintain “the yoys” on a good leash, emphasizing that he areas them out in music releases and DJ units alike.
He identifies inspirations behind different Tape B sounds as Claybrook, SVDDEN DEATH, Area Laces, Getter and REZZ, amongst others. Although he mentions that his sound doesn’t a lot mirror that of his inspirations, it is the curation of an environment surrounding their music that conjures up him. “I just think they’re extremely unique; they do them very well,” he says.
One other main inspiration lies behind his adored tagline, “Yo Tape B, show ’em how it’s done.” He credit influential entice producer TroyBoi with the thought to separate up the road and strategically place its fragments all through his tracks.
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Now, after filtering via inspiration to seek out his personal readability in his path, it is plain that he is achieved the proper concoction of sentimentality, novelty and in-your-face bass. And his profession has progressed exponentially, lately dropping high-flying units at Coachella and Extremely Music Competition, simply two of a plethora of main appearances. He is now gearing up for his personal headlining tour within the fall—the biggest of his profession to-date.
Pulling the yarn of his “Old School x New School” path swap, Alkanat recollects a surreal second finally 12 months’s Electrical Forest that served as a vital validator.
“When I looked out, I couldn’t believe how big the crowd was,” he reminisces with a smile. “I had prepared so well for it. I played my first song and I was immediately so happy—I was like, ‘I know exactly what I’m doing, I’m so well prepared.’ And I was so in the moment for that, and that was the day it turned around for me.”
For a lot of followers of EDM and hip-hop alike, Tape B’s latest monitor “Trippy Land,” a collaboration with Mersiv and Juicy J, was an instantaneous playlist staple upon launch. Working with the enduring rapper, Alkanat says, helped to legitimize his work in hip-hop.
The monitor’s launch additionally catalyzed the outreach of extra artists he hadn’t even dreamt of working with but. Regardless of his pleasure and gratitude, he emphasizes that on the subject of collaborations, he doesn’t wish to rush it.
“I want to make sure I have stuff that I’m really proud of before I send a lot of my favorite rappers and influences something to work on,” he says.
Different rappers he goals of working alongside embrace Meechy from Flatbush Zombies, Schoolboy Q, Waka Flocka Flame and A$AP Rocky, the lattermost of whom tops the listing.
For Alkanat, the important thing to navigating his speedy ascent was getting over the concern of freestyling relatively than having his units deliberate out. “When I freestyle it’s just so much easier,” he says. “I know exactly what I want to play… it was really just getting over that fear of freestyling in front of thousands of people.”
Figuring out that freestyling led to his finest work however fearing the potential errors that include an unplanned set, it took some rationalizing to beat his doubts. “Back then all I did was show up with a laptop and my controller and just read the room for four hours, and I thought I was way better back then at DJing,” he explains. “So now I’m like, ‘I was good then, why don’t I just do this in a bigger setting?'”
“It was kind of a mental battle, but now I’m very comfortable freestyling up there,” he continues, highlighting the connection it cultivates with his fans. “I believe it’s extra enjoyable for the followers to only be within the second and play what feels proper.”
His approach extends even further, like in his fan-favorite “Cartunes” and “Driptapes” volumes released via SoundCloud. According to Alkanat, these mixes pay homage to his top live tracks of the year.
You may be surprised to discover that he sits down and assembles these mixes all in one go. Alkanat says he finds himself consumed by a “random manic state” as he sits down to work on longer mixes and EPs, and the spontaneity with which he changes elements.
“The ‘Dopamine’ VIP, with the Rae Sremmurd vocals over it—I made that the day earlier than the combo got here out and I’m like, ‘I believe this is able to truly match!’ And now it’s lots of people’s favourite half from the combo,” he reveals with a laugh.
In the same vein of feeling and fun within his own studio, Alkanat wants to encourage a sense of community with his nostalgia-fueled music. So take it from the producer himself that his music and sets are there for your entertainment and escape—along with the occasional headbang”.
“On the finish of the day, so long as everybody’s respectful, and so they’re variety to one another and having enjoyable, that’s what it is all about,” he says. “We’re all right here to get away from real-life shit and simply have enjoyable and hearken to music.”
Observe Tape B:
X: x.com/tapebbeats
Instagram: instagram.com/tapebbeats
TikTok: tiktok.com/@tapebbeats
Fb: fb.com/tapebbeats
Spotify: tinyurl.com/mwvmuh8v
