Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives

About Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives

Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives is a 2001 studio album by Guillermo Scott Herren, the first released under the name Prefuse 73. The album was released in June 11, 2001 on Warp. The music was created by Herren alone, with some tracks featuring guest vocals from MCs Mikah 9, MF Doom and Aesop Rock as well as vocalist Sam Prekop from The Sea and Cake. Inspired by Miami bass and early 90s hip hop, Herren had been recording music with his Music Production Center (MPC) for Schematic Records, a label known primarily for intelligent dance music (IDM). After working with various local hip hop artists making what he described as "very boring rap beats", Herren was inspired to take his music in a more left-field direction. Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives's music is primarily instrumental and features unintelligible cut-up vocals. Originally inspired to sample the hip hop artists he was signed to work with in the studio, the album consists of samples by more popular hip hop artists including Nas, Ol' Dirty Bastard and Erykah Badu. Despite being described as electronic music, IDM and glitch and not the kind of music a hip hop audience is used to hearing, Herren felt that his music was closer to hip hop. more »