Killer Bee

Artist: Killer Bee
Track: irl
Producer: Killer Bee
Album: Otaku

Stream - DJ Booth

I recently heard "Fantasy" by New York producer Killer Bee for the first time. The instrumental has more than 500,000 streams on SoundCloud, and appears to be Killer Bee's biggest hit to date.

This track led me to Killer Bee's SoundCloud, and in turn, his recent Otaku beat tape. The tape's opener, "luvsick (intro)," is a sample-stuffed, head-nodding feast for the ears. Bee took last summer off to immerse himself in the history and art of beat-making, and, well, I think his efforts are paying off here. - Indie Shuffle

“Tell me how the it feel, to get hit with the motherfucking reel?”

In the process of writing this, Killer Bee’s nod to anime and “lo-fi” hip hop culture promptly sold out on Grifo Tapes. The label is one of the first in Memphis Tennessee to take on the cassette resurgence. It’s about damn time, too – Memphis has a rich history of underground MCs dropping hastily-cut cassettes in the 90s, many of which are now collectors items for rich, white Germans. This is Grifo’s first grip, and the second for New Jersey producer Killer Bee. It’s an excellent entry point into a heavily populated and sometimes overwhelming landscape of perennial vibes and carefully chosen clips of film dialogue and pop culture ephemera, with an eye for high quality artwork and shimmering, floral beats.

“I don’t think people should judge each other so harshly.”

For all appearances, Killer Bee seems much more honest and, well, *human* than most of the megalomaniac soundcloud entrepreneurs offering to sell their own curated “drum kits” and flaming each other on twitter. A note accompanying the tape thanks his family, Tracks like “swordfish” and “✿blossom✿” are freewheeling yet intricate, and flashes of bleak wisdom, protestor angst, and rap royalty permeate the empty space between the heavy thud of Killer Bee’s kick. Dude’s got a solid knowledge of the best producers in the game right now, which he details in the tape’s liner notes, but this work is all his own. And by the end of the production, you get the sense that Killer Bee is really in bloom. The last take, “Final Fantasy” is an unexpected epic: a “Bohemian R(h)apsody” for the lo-fi game, moving between 80’s croon and Blade Runner synths, with peanut butter-thick bass bumping throughout. - Tiny Mix Tapes

When music resonates with a particular lingering emotion, it's apparent that it falls beyond a sonic medium and transforms into a vessel for introspective epiphanies. Killer Bee based out of New York City/New Jersey is a one of a kind treasure on Soundcloud, instilling a captivating sensation of nostalgic culture vomit. I first discovered the producer's track "Fantasy" off the Venus EP, which eerily transported me to a forgotten corner in my muddy childhood memory. The 22 year old producer cleverly meshed together Common's "Go" with a familiar Spirited Away piano riff, touching multiple clouds of memories in my mind. With this effect on me upon first listen, I was immediately hooked and excited to discover what else the artist had to offer.
His latest release alone_ is a lo-fi hip hop masterpiece, drawing inspiration from R&B samples overlaid on fresh and fuzzy hip hop beats. The haziness and warmth of the album can be appropriately paired with a mid-afternoon bedroom daydream session. But more than anything, the curation and authenticity in Killer Bee's alone_ speaks to a broader notion beyond music, titilating an emotional vulnerability found in the lives of modern adolescents or "almost adults". The sounds are paradoxically familiar yet new, cradling sporadic emotions and pillowing our deepest insecurities with a sense of comfort. The album is heavy with 18 tracks, all opening doors to different portals of influence. These influences range from samples of phone notification beeps, voice messages, excerpts from movies such as "The Notebook", quotes from rappers including Earl Sweatshirt and more.
"? [diamond ring emoji"" is a peculiar construction of sound, with jarring yells braided into lustful vocal chops. The track's busy environment is counter-balanced by a fluidity in the opposing pairings. "1-800-IMISSYOU" is musical representation of that text message you shouldn't have sent your ex, exalting loss and discomfort in the cacophonic synths and distressed words. "never b4" is a buzzing track that sells itself in soulful layers. Repetition is key in the track, creating a appealing loop that sends listeners into a distant world. Regarding his personal approach to the album, Killer Bee states in a letter "I wanted to make an intimate album. One that directly connected me to the listener. I think it's hard for an artist to directly connect to listeners because there is a lot of bureaucracy in music, blocking the personal process and removing the 'human' element.". Each track in the album has a purpose and function, expressing internal struggles that many of us face in our day to day.

What Killer Bee does that is outstanding is create a colourful mosaic in his sound, using hip-hop instrumentals as the skeleton, draped in R&B soul and electronic dabbles. Heart-wrenching, generationally relevant and empathetic, his debut album has an unexplainable brilliance that reveals itself deeper in every track. Killer Bee's alone_ is a post-nostalgic cultural agenda of today's millennials, revamping beloved social remnants through a soundscape polluted in digressing emotions. - Earmilk

n/a - Hype Machine

Press play on New York beatmaker Killer Bee, as he just recently dropped a full-length project in Otaku. Press play and read more about the project below, including a lot of his inspiration, and hit this link to download the tape in full. - Bringing Down The Band

Based out of the New York/New Jersey area, 23-year-old hip-hop producer Killer Bee shows tribute to glistening old-school hip-hop on his new tape Otaku, “influenced by a variety of great hip hop instrumentalists including bsd.u and Knxwledge. It is also inspired by animes like Mob Psycho 100, albums like Frank Ocean’s Blonde, genres like lo-fi hip hop and Future, jazz artists like John Klemmer, funk artists like George Duke, and R&B artists like Xscape.” So yeah, it has an eclectic influence. The track contains aspects of “Am I Dreamin’“ by Xscape; NWA on the Arsenio; “The Muthaphukkin Real” by Eazy E feat. MC Ren.

The release is a passion project, for sure. “I took the summer off to study beat-making and this is the culmination of that effort,” Killer Bee explains. “I would watch videos for seven hours a day every day of the week, and probably watched upwards of 300 hours of video tutorials. I named the album ‘Otaku’ to poke fun at myself and my love for anime/Japan. It also falls in line with lo-fi Hip-Hop’s obsession with the anime aesthetic. I also wanted to explore the stigma behind it and question its definition. I don’t think people should judge each other so harshly.” - Obscure Sound