Since the early 2000s, in the L.A. underground, it's been producer and beatmaker Ras G's m.o. to immerse his work in infectious, unfiltered experimentation, both in content and concept. Now a staple in the beat scene, his latest full-length Stargate Music is an astral ode to woman. More specifically, the process through which life is conceived, created, and thrust into being — a 30-minute ode to the womb and the cycle of life.
While the album's concept might give pause and actively induce cringing, Stargate Music does a remarkable job at mimicking the stages that Ras G has laid out for this journey (even with track names like "Water Broken (The Opening of the Stargate)" and "The Arrival"). At the midway mark, "The Nector of Stargate (taste)" rolls in, forlorn and reminiscent, while still sultry with galactic woodwinds and psychedelic strings. The album then backpedals into guttural bass and low-end sounds on "Is It Lust or Love." Scene-stealer "Heaven Is Between Her Legs… (Initiate the Return)" is heady, all-encompassing lo-fi, reverberating with throbbing bass hits and ghostly female vocal snippets oscillating in and out, as if in a trance.
Stargate Music is a brilliant addition to the outpouring in the L.A. beat scene, a beautiful amalgamation of raw experimentation and sound fusion that raises this concept album well above others who have come before.
(Leaving)While the album's concept might give pause and actively induce cringing, Stargate Music does a remarkable job at mimicking the stages that Ras G has laid out for this journey (even with track names like "Water Broken (The Opening of the Stargate)" and "The Arrival"). At the midway mark, "The Nector of Stargate (taste)" rolls in, forlorn and reminiscent, while still sultry with galactic woodwinds and psychedelic strings. The album then backpedals into guttural bass and low-end sounds on "Is It Lust or Love." Scene-stealer "Heaven Is Between Her Legs… (Initiate the Return)" is heady, all-encompassing lo-fi, reverberating with throbbing bass hits and ghostly female vocal snippets oscillating in and out, as if in a trance.
Stargate Music is a brilliant addition to the outpouring in the L.A. beat scene, a beautiful amalgamation of raw experimentation and sound fusion that raises this concept album well above others who have come before.
