Posted by The Heavytrackerz came from the underground to re-shape how the charts operate.
A duo from Walthamstow in London, the production team started life working with bona fide grime legends, before broadening their scope.
Helping to re-define the genre, The Heavytrackerz have linked with the biggest in the game, alongside earning plaudits in their own right.
New album ‘TRCKRZ FM’ is their broadest statement to date, a superb fusion of disparate sounds, dominated by their immutable character.
Out now, Clash linked with Heavytrackerz for Seven Tracks – analysing some of their biggest collaborations…
– – –
Lethal Bizzle ft.Giggs – ‘Round Here’
This was sonically important to our career as it allowed us to differentiate from other producers. We purposely wanted to implement the use of orchestras and choirs into our music. It helped us usher in a much more classical aspect to grime.
After the release of this track we carried on with that kind of sound on our first album ‘Odyssey’. Plus it isnt everyday you get to produce for Lethal B.
– – –
Izzy Bizu – ‘White Tiger’ (Remix)
In terms of solidifying ourselves as music producers rather than grime producers, this track was important to us.
Izzy Bizu was fresh off a BRIT nomination and we needed a big hit away from grime. It opened up a few doors for us as we began doing more remixes for the pop industry. It was a go to track for our DJ shows too, add Kano to the mix and it’s a wrap!
– – –
Meridian Dan – ‘German Whip’
This track kicked off our music career and revived the grime genre too.
Sonically it was the subject of many grime debates amongst purists, is it grime or rap or trap? Is it a novelty track or is it a serious one? As an instrumental, it is pretty basic and repetitive but that’s exactly why it worked. We purposely structured the track to be a little bit more friendly than an usual 8 Loop Grime track.
– – –
The HeavyTrackerz – ‘TRKRZ’
Probably the purest GRIME track we’ve done. Sounds like grime, plays like grime, has a 8 bar loop, this is grime.
The line up on this track put us on the map, it was a pain to perform this one live as you could imagine it was impossible to get that many acts all in one room. The beat switch on the Youngs Tef verse from grime to rap always goes unnoticed but it was all about being able to fit different styles within the same track.
– – –
Dizzee Rascal – ‘Nutcrackerz’
Sampling plays a major part in our beat making process and using the Tchaikovsky ‘Nutcracker’ to create this christmas feel trap beat was even more fun.
We always try to incorporate different elements to our productions and first when you hear this instrumental, you have no idea where it goes but a minute in it makes perfect sense.
Didn’t think it was something Dizzee would pick as a single but funny enough it worked.
– – –
Stormzy – ‘Not That Deep’
This is very similar to Nutcrackerz in terms of the type of sounds used to produce a grime track. It has a Christmas feel to it and the sounds used here are not your go-to for grime. But the melodies on the chorus were very infectious and almost sold the instrumental before even hearing the lyrics.
This track came about at a time where we aimed for diversity in our production. Very radio friendly and an easy listen.
– – –
Craig David & Big Narstie – ‘Bassline’ (Remix)
When it comes to shaping up our DJ career and smashing up the shows, this track here did it for us. It’s so important to be able to play your own tracks on your set and see the reaction from the crowd. #
This sound shaped the way we produced moving forward, we understood that what works on the radio is different from what’s on an album, but most importantly that what works at a festival is probably the most important sound for your DJ career.
– – –
‘TRCKRZ FM’ is out now.