Triad God — ‘Triad’ album review
Some of the most exciting and innovative music releases of the 2010s came out of the American record label Hippos in Tanks. They’ve put out music that would constantly blur the lines between the avant-garde and the popular, creating their own lane in respect of sound and Internet-based aesthetics, and brought an initial platform to now-established acts like Grimes, Arca, Yung Lean, Dean Blunt, James Ferraro or Laurel Halo. Sadly, the label ceased its activities in 2015 after the tragic death of one of its founders, Barron Machat, but its influence continues to be felt today.
One of the label’s most underrated releases was the debut by London-based, Vietnamese-Chinese rapper Vinh Soi Ngan, or Triad God. Released in 2012, NXB was strange even by the label’s standards. Mostly composed of Ngan rapping, alternating between Cantonese, English and Vietnamese and in the most monotone way possible over sparse and unpredictable beats that took as much from grime as they did from Steve Roach. In spite of its oddness, he still managed to gain a small cult following due to his unique style. However, he was mostly inactive for the following six years — aside from a couple singles and a one-off collaboration with the previously mentioned James Ferraro , pretty much nothing else — and being a rather mysterious artist, it wasn’t certain whether he would come back or not.
Fortunately, he released his second full-length release this February, under Presto?!, Italian avant-trance producer Lorenzo Senni’s imprint. Titled simply Triad, was exclusively produced by Palmistry — except for its last song “Chinese New Year”, which was produced by Organ Tapes.
Compared to its predecessor, the production in Triad is stripped down and abstract. If NXB flirted with field recordings and an atmospheric production, on a good portion of this new record the music is quite literally ambient. Tracks like “So Pay La” or “Chow Bat Por” are based around the synth melodies and choral-esque samples that you’d hear on a Oneohtrix Point Never album, building a rather soothing albeit slightly eerie sound. What makes this straight-up uncanny though, is Triad God’s performance. While the concept of ambient-rap is not necessarily a new thing, since many “cloud rap” releases might fall under this category as would Lil B’s Rain in England or some cLOUDDEAD tracks, Ngan’s very cold delivery makes it rather difficult to differentiate actual rapping from… just talking.
The contrast between his lyrics — mostly in Cantonese, although he slips some English here and there— and the music makes things rather jarring too. A good example of this would be “Gway Lo” — basically “cracker” in Cantonese — lines like “rapping’s a lifestyle / you don’t know what the fuck I’m saying” over the kind of new age-esque instrumental that might play in the background at a dentist’s office manages to be funny, distressing and slightly terrifying all at the same time, and quite fascinating in every way.
There are some tracks that might be more accessible to the average ear, and he shines on there as well. “Babe Don’t Go” and its follow up “BDG” have Palmistry’s signature hybrid of bouncy, minimal dancehall and electronic R&B, over which he sings rather catchy hooks, or for instance “Gwan Ye Gong”, most similar to NXB in its usage of scattered rhythms. The Organ Tapes-produced “Chinese New Year” is also a highlight, as it is quite comparable to the underrated Into One Name from last year for its heavily-autotuned, mumbled singing and rapping.
While not being abrasive or anything of the sort, Triad is not an easy album to digest by any means, essentially redefining the term “experimental hip hop”. And despite it being released on Presto?!, it still has a lot of what made the best Hippos in Tanks albums so enticing — they’re strange, even kind of repulsive at some points, but one still wants to hit replay once its over, and listen to it over and over again, even if only to make sense of what you heard. And once you’re able to make sense, one starts to find its hidden beauty. This Triad God album has a lot of it, and will absolutely find a public that will appreciate it as much as it deserves to.
— Tomás Gauna
