Thes One

As a producer for People Under the Stairs, Thes One has consistently proven that he is one of the most talented hip-hop beat-makers in the game, weaving beautiful melodies for himself and Double K to flow over. This time around, Thes has raided the archives of German-born composer Herb Pilhofer, who, along with film soundtracks and jazz pieces, also happened to write electronically fused commercial jingles for everyone from phone companies to airlines. Thes One slices and chops up Pilhofer’s melodies to create almost completely new rhythms but manages to contain the same vibe as the original advertisements, then charges the compositions with crucial drum breaks, making either a hip-hop banger, melodic ambience or sometimes both. Each cut on Lifestyle Marketing is required listening, as Thes One’s instrumentals are often gorgeous works of atmospheric hip-hop with an underlining synthesiser effect coupled with uplifting harmonies thanks to Pilhofer’s original vision. In a move that most producers wouldn’t dream of, the original jingles appear on a second disc, so you can compare products to see just how clever Thes One really gets. But it’s also a move to pay tribute to a man that was forward thinking even when it came to writing songs for companies like Target or 3M.