Running Bodies Productions will not be stopped, and soon enough MFT's MTV referencing logo t-shirt (which you can buy, and own, and wear on your body) will shift from boast to reality, and our channel will be stocked entirely with videos of local hip-hop, and the universe will finally be in balance. Last week, in conjunction with MFT, Running Bodies Production dropped Making the Bando Vol. 1, a five track EP featuring, primarily KING GoD and Grxzz, with Dylan Prevails on the beats. Readers wondering how exactly they do it (i.e. manage such prolificacy--just last week we were talking about Grey Granite's "Treasure Town" video, and not too long before that it was KING GoD's "Rare Juelz") are advised to watch the making-of video for this release posted on our Youtube page, and to listen below:

Prevails' beats set the scene for this whole thing--they're all almost pitch-dark, minor key smears that are in a clear bit of conversation with similarly dreamy tracks in a lot of recent drill. Sub bass roils while ghostly synths shift and shift and shift, always already evading the battening town of skittering trap hat. It's easy for a producer to stand quietly behind the MCs--no matter how strong a beat is, it can get lost behind the presonalities who've got the luxury of a microphone cupped against their faces. What's great about Prevails' beats here is that he's got a handle on a voice that doesn't do any drowning out, but as well doesn't let itself get shuffled past. These are tracks with a clear, organized aesthetic, and I can only imagine he's going to keep getting sharper. 

KING GoD and Grxzz are left to fend for themselves in the barren landscape of Prevails' thumping, managing with all manner of grinds, growls, and yelps. These two are some of the most varied MCs rhyming in Indianapolis right now. From KING GoD's Young Thug-like peaking in the hook of "Barcelona Tapas" to Grxzz's stereo spectrum filling angry bellow on "Peeplez," they clearly know their way around their own voices. This is, surprisingly, not as common as you might think. With a solid roundout from Diop and Indiana Chief on "Yung Blood" (my favorite on the release), and you've got five tracks that sound like they've got way more than just four voices in total on them. 

And, of course, any mention of "Peeplez" ought also to bring with it a pointed shout-out to new Music Video in a Day from Running Bodies for the track. As you can watch in the embed above, it does a clear job of literalizing that darkness I was getting at in Prevails' production--KING GoD and Grxzz are literally mugging surrounded by almost total night for a significant chunk of the video. It's got a slight hint of threat in there (which is, honestly, a welcome quantity), but one that's charmingly undercut by the irrepresible fun of the other segments; it's a setting up and knocking down of subtle contrasts. 

Soon the internet will contain nothing but music videos of Indianapolis hip-hop and you, reader, will tell the gawkers that you were around when it all started.