WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.000 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Today we are putting 00:00:03.000 --> 00:00:05.919 a very specific record on the turntable, metaphorically 00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:07.240 speaking. Metaphorically, yeah. Right, right. 00:00:07.400 --> 00:00:09.859 But we're also putting an entire subculture under 00:00:09.859 --> 00:00:13.279 the microscope. We are looking at a moment where 00:00:13.279 --> 00:00:18.559 this hyper -local, frantic, really street -level 00:00:18.559 --> 00:00:20.960 sound suddenly found itself on the global stage. 00:00:21.179 --> 00:00:23.879 It really did. So we are talking about DJ Rashad's 00:00:23.879 --> 00:00:27.750 2013 studio album, Double Cup. Which is... I 00:00:27.750 --> 00:00:29.609 mean, it's just a massive record to tackle. And 00:00:29.609 --> 00:00:31.989 honestly, it's a pretty heavy one to discuss 00:00:31.989 --> 00:00:34.929 in more ways than one. It really is. And I want 00:00:34.929 --> 00:00:36.390 to start with that weight right off the bat. 00:00:36.490 --> 00:00:39.469 This isn't just a standard album review where 00:00:39.469 --> 00:00:41.630 we just talk about beats and bars. No, not at 00:00:41.630 --> 00:00:44.030 all. When Double Cup dropped in October 2013, 00:00:44.369 --> 00:00:47.789 it was DJ Rashad's first proper studio album. 00:00:48.210 --> 00:00:50.390 And tragically, because of his passing shortly 00:00:50.390 --> 00:00:53.289 after, it remains the only full -length album 00:00:53.289 --> 00:00:56.429 released during his lifetime. Yeah. That's the 00:00:56.429 --> 00:00:58.850 crucial context that hangs over every single 00:00:58.850 --> 00:01:01.289 track we're going to talk about today. We're 00:01:01.289 --> 00:01:04.170 looking at a snapshot of an artist who was arguably 00:01:04.170 --> 00:01:06.829 just hitting his absolute creative peak. Right. 00:01:07.209 --> 00:01:10.129 The mission of this deep dive isn't just to mourn 00:01:10.129 --> 00:01:12.849 what we lost. It's to understand how this specific 00:01:12.849 --> 00:01:15.349 record managed to do something almost impossible. 00:01:15.569 --> 00:01:18.370 It took the Chicago footwork sound and it just 00:01:18.370 --> 00:01:21.269 blew it up globally. And just so you know where 00:01:21.269 --> 00:01:23.950 we are pulling all this from, our sources for 00:01:23.950 --> 00:01:26.250 this deep dive. include a lot of the original 00:01:26.250 --> 00:01:28.969 critical reception from when the album dropped, 00:01:29.129 --> 00:01:32.689 production notes on how it was actually made, 00:01:32.870 --> 00:01:36.090 and retrospective analysis of the album's legacy 00:01:36.090 --> 00:01:38.150 over the last decade. Right, because the way 00:01:38.150 --> 00:01:41.290 people view it now is, well, it's very different 00:01:41.290 --> 00:01:42.829 from back then. Yeah, we'll definitely get into 00:01:42.829 --> 00:01:45.010 that. But before we get into the history, I think 00:01:45.010 --> 00:01:47.030 we need to set the stage for our listeners who, 00:01:47.109 --> 00:01:49.950 you know, might not be hardcore electronic music 00:01:49.950 --> 00:01:53.049 heads. Good idea. When we say footwork or juke... 00:01:53.290 --> 00:01:54.989 What are we actually talking about? Because if 00:01:54.989 --> 00:01:56.750 you've never heard it, describing it as dance 00:01:56.750 --> 00:01:58.930 music just feels like a massive understatement. 00:01:59.370 --> 00:02:01.689 Understatement is putting it mildly. Footwork 00:02:01.689 --> 00:02:05.569 is intense. It's a genre born in Chicago, specifically 00:02:05.569 --> 00:02:08.770 for these rapid fire dance battles. We are talking 00:02:08.770 --> 00:02:11.729 about music that clocks in at 160 beats per minute. 00:02:12.009 --> 00:02:14.810 160 BPM. That is, I mean, that's heart attack 00:02:14.810 --> 00:02:18.030 speed. It is. It's characterized by these syncopated 00:02:18.030 --> 00:02:20.629 rhythms, really heavy sub -bass, and repetitive 00:02:20.629 --> 00:02:22.750 vocal chops that get twisted and turned into 00:02:22.750 --> 00:02:25.889 percussion. It's athletic music. Athletic. Yeah, 00:02:25.930 --> 00:02:27.909 it's meant to make your feet move faster than 00:02:27.909 --> 00:02:30.229 your brain can even process. Okay, so keep that 00:02:30.229 --> 00:02:33.729 sonic image in your head. Frantic, sweaty, 160 00:02:33.729 --> 00:02:36.830 BPM battle music. That's the baseline. But then, 00:02:36.949 --> 00:02:40.129 enter double cup. Right. This album wasn't just 00:02:40.129 --> 00:02:41.990 another collection of battle tracks. It was released 00:02:41.990 --> 00:02:44.710 on Hyperdub. Right. Which is this legendary UK 00:02:44.710 --> 00:02:48.189 label known for much more moody, atmospheric 00:02:48.189 --> 00:02:50.810 dubstep. Exactly. And that label choice is the 00:02:50.810 --> 00:02:52.590 first clue that something different is happening 00:02:52.590 --> 00:02:55.490 here. This was the exact moment where those local 00:02:55.490 --> 00:02:58.289 Chicago subgenres, juke and footwork, started 00:02:58.289 --> 00:03:00.750 shaking hands with the wider, artsier world of 00:03:00.750 --> 00:03:02.830 electronic music. So let's unpack the origins 00:03:02.830 --> 00:03:04.689 of this specific project, because the visuals 00:03:04.689 --> 00:03:07.270 alone tell a story. If you look at the cover 00:03:07.270 --> 00:03:10.110 art, which was designed... by Rashad's friend 00:03:10.110 --> 00:03:13.569 Ashes57. What are we actually looking at? We 00:03:13.569 --> 00:03:16.669 are looking at a stark nighttime aerial shot 00:03:16.669 --> 00:03:19.069 of Chicago. It's beautiful, a little bit lonely, 00:03:19.210 --> 00:03:21.930 honestly, but it anchors Rashad's identity firmly 00:03:21.930 --> 00:03:25.469 to his hometown. Even though, as we'll see, the 00:03:25.469 --> 00:03:27.990 actual recording process took him all over the 00:03:27.990 --> 00:03:31.150 place, the soul of the record is explicitly Chicago. 00:03:31.509 --> 00:03:33.969 Right. But here's where the making of story gets 00:03:33.969 --> 00:03:37.169 really interesting to me. You see DJ Rashad on 00:03:37.169 --> 00:03:40.479 the cover, singular. So you naturally assume, 00:03:40.680 --> 00:03:43.080 OK, this is a solo genius locked in a soundproof 00:03:43.080 --> 00:03:45.740 booth somewhere for a year. Oh, absolutely not. 00:03:45.840 --> 00:03:48.199 Right. The source material paints a completely 00:03:48.199 --> 00:03:50.979 different picture. This was not an isolationist 00:03:50.979 --> 00:03:53.659 project. Far from it. In fact, you can't really 00:03:53.659 --> 00:03:55.639 talk about Rashad or Double Cup without talking 00:03:55.639 --> 00:03:58.879 about the Tech Life crew. Tech Life. That's the 00:03:58.879 --> 00:04:00.780 collective he was part of. Right. Rashid had 00:04:00.780 --> 00:04:02.719 this philosophy that was actually pretty unique 00:04:02.719 --> 00:04:05.300 in such a competitive scene. He believed that 00:04:05.300 --> 00:04:07.719 collaboration was the main fuel for creativity. 00:04:08.039 --> 00:04:09.900 That's awesome. Yeah, it wasn't about guarding 00:04:09.900 --> 00:04:12.080 his secrets or hiding his samples. It was about 00:04:12.080 --> 00:04:15.580 sharing the energy. I really love that. It pushes 00:04:15.580 --> 00:04:17.980 back against that whole tortured solo artist 00:04:17.980 --> 00:04:20.879 myth. And we have some specific details on how 00:04:20.879 --> 00:04:23.060 that collaboration actually worked for this album. 00:04:23.300 --> 00:04:26.649 We know from his collaborator, DJ Spin. that 00:04:26.649 --> 00:04:28.350 a lot of these tracks weren't just made from 00:04:28.350 --> 00:04:30.730 scratch in a single day. No. Spin noted that 00:04:30.730 --> 00:04:32.649 many of the tracks were pre -existing ideas. 00:04:33.069 --> 00:04:35.490 They were these sketches and loops that the crew 00:04:35.490 --> 00:04:37.430 had been kicking around for like seven or eight 00:04:37.430 --> 00:04:39.670 months. Wow. Yeah, they were just continuously 00:04:39.670 --> 00:04:41.990 reworking them, refining them, polishing them 00:04:41.990 --> 00:04:44.790 up. Which implies a level of care and curation 00:04:44.790 --> 00:04:47.490 that people sometimes don't associate with such 00:04:47.490 --> 00:04:50.300 a... fast -paced, raw genre. They were really 00:04:50.300 --> 00:04:52.800 crafting this thing. Precisely. They were treating 00:04:52.800 --> 00:04:55.800 footwork with the same studio rigor as a pop 00:04:55.800 --> 00:04:58.500 album or a high -concept electronic record. And 00:04:58.500 --> 00:05:01.139 the setting. This is honestly my favorite detail 00:05:01.139 --> 00:05:03.399 in the research. Yeah. They weren't in some multi 00:05:03.399 --> 00:05:05.959 -million dollar studio complex in L .A. or London. 00:05:06.360 --> 00:05:09.100 Where were they recording this masterpiece? This 00:05:09.100 --> 00:05:12.199 is the best part. Spin mentioned his own studio, 00:05:12.339 --> 00:05:14.699 sure, but a significant portion of Double Cup 00:05:14.699 --> 00:05:18.659 was actually recorded in San Francisco. specifically 00:05:18.659 --> 00:05:21.839 in the apartment of their friend Tasso's girlfriend. 00:05:22.139 --> 00:05:24.519 Just in an apartment. Yeah. Hanging out. Exactly. 00:05:24.579 --> 00:05:27.180 That is so relatable. It completely grounds the 00:05:27.180 --> 00:05:30.139 whole legendary album status in reality. It's 00:05:30.139 --> 00:05:32.160 just friends in a living room making music. And 00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:34.180 we have to mention the atmosphere of those sessions 00:05:34.180 --> 00:05:36.420 because the sources are quite specific about 00:05:36.420 --> 00:05:39.139 the vibe in that room. The recording was done, 00:05:39.160 --> 00:05:41.420 and I quote, much of the time under the influence 00:05:41.420 --> 00:05:43.800 of cannabis. Which brings us directly to the 00:05:43.800 --> 00:05:47.180 title of the album, Double Cup. And this is where 00:05:47.180 --> 00:05:49.339 I think the genius of the record really lies. 00:05:49.620 --> 00:05:51.819 We need to talk about the tension here. It's 00:05:51.819 --> 00:05:54.019 the central conflict of the album, really. Double 00:05:54.019 --> 00:05:56.839 Cup is a direct reference to the method of preparing 00:05:56.839 --> 00:05:59.579 and consuming lean. Which is codeine cough syrup 00:05:59.579 --> 00:06:02.839 mixed with soda, right? Yes. And lean is a downer. 00:06:02.839 --> 00:06:05.500 It slows you down. It's associated with being 00:06:05.500 --> 00:06:08.819 stuck to the couch, leaning, moving in slow motion. 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:12.180 Exactly. So think about that. You have a genre, 00:06:12.420 --> 00:06:16.279 footwork. That is entirely defined by a 160 BPM 00:06:16.279 --> 00:06:20.160 speed, athleticism and frantic energy. And you 00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:22.360 title the album after a substance that makes 00:06:22.360 --> 00:06:24.439 you feel like you're moving underwater. It's 00:06:24.439 --> 00:06:27.139 a total paradox. It is. And that paradox is the 00:06:27.139 --> 00:06:30.430 actual sound of the album. Drown in Sound pointed 00:06:30.430 --> 00:06:32.670 this out in their original review. They talked 00:06:32.670 --> 00:06:35.290 about the balance of electronics and drugs. It's 00:06:35.290 --> 00:06:37.870 the sensation of sprinting while you're falling 00:06:37.870 --> 00:06:39.750 asleep. The sprinting while falling asleep. Yeah, 00:06:39.769 --> 00:06:42.329 it's a very specific, almost psychedelic headspace. 00:06:42.689 --> 00:06:44.850 So let's deconstruct that sound a bit more. If 00:06:44.850 --> 00:06:47.149 a listener hasn't heard Double Cup and they're 00:06:47.149 --> 00:06:50.050 expecting just raw, aggressive battle tracks, 00:06:50.350 --> 00:06:52.990 what are they actually stepping into? Because 00:06:52.990 --> 00:06:55.889 the sources say it's a massive blend. It really 00:06:55.889 --> 00:06:57.689 is a blend. It incorporates juke, obviously, 00:06:57.689 --> 00:07:00.529 but also pop rap and R &B. Pitchfork had this 00:07:00.529 --> 00:07:02.709 incredible description that I think just nails 00:07:02.709 --> 00:07:05.250 it. What did they say? They said the album melts 00:07:05.250 --> 00:07:08.410 the long history of Chicago house into glossy 00:07:08.410 --> 00:07:11.829 bits of pop rap. Glossy bits. That implies a 00:07:11.829 --> 00:07:14.050 shine or a polish that wasn't really there before 00:07:14.050 --> 00:07:16.470 in the genre. And they went on to say it combines 00:07:16.470 --> 00:07:19.110 the athletic feats of juke with the warmth and 00:07:19.110 --> 00:07:22.720 soul of the city's R &B. That word warmth is 00:07:22.720 --> 00:07:25.459 key here. Right. A lot of early footwork can 00:07:25.459 --> 00:07:29.519 sound mechanical, cold, almost aggressive. Rashad 00:07:29.519 --> 00:07:31.959 brought the soul back into the machine. That 00:07:31.959 --> 00:07:34.980 R &B influence is huge. It gives it that emotional 00:07:34.980 --> 00:07:37.100 hook. It's not just about moving your feet anymore. 00:07:37.279 --> 00:07:39.800 It's about feeling something in your chest. Absolutely. 00:07:39.819 --> 00:07:42.420 And looking at the track list, that collaborative 00:07:42.420 --> 00:07:44.779 spirit we mentioned earlier is just everywhere. 00:07:44.839 --> 00:07:47.480 You've got tracks like Feeling, Past That Shit, 00:07:47.639 --> 00:07:50.360 and She Ago. And look at the credits on those. 00:07:50.779 --> 00:07:53.579 Feelin' features spin and taso. Pass That Shit 00:07:53.579 --> 00:07:55.899 features Spin and Teso. She Ago features Spin 00:07:55.899 --> 00:07:57.759 and Teso. It's a pattern. Yeah, and you also 00:07:57.759 --> 00:08:00.259 have appearances by DJ Phil, Addison Groove, 00:08:00.459 --> 00:08:03.399 Manny, Earl. It's a complete family affair. It's 00:08:03.399 --> 00:08:05.480 a posse cut approach to an electronic album. 00:08:05.579 --> 00:08:08.180 And this is a crucial distinction. The writing 00:08:08.180 --> 00:08:10.100 credits tell us something really important about 00:08:10.100 --> 00:08:12.699 Rashad's role in all this. They do. Because despite 00:08:12.699 --> 00:08:14.879 all those features, all the tracks were written 00:08:14.879 --> 00:08:17.720 by DJ Rashad. He was the architect. He was the 00:08:17.720 --> 00:08:20.279 conductor of this orchestra, bringing all these 00:08:20.279 --> 00:08:22.839 voices together under his... specific vision. 00:08:23.000 --> 00:08:25.600 He knew exactly how to use his friends talents 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:28.199 to build the sound he wanted. So we have this 00:08:28.199 --> 00:08:31.180 incredible collaborative genre bending album 00:08:31.180 --> 00:08:33.919 coming out of a smoke filled apartment in San 00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:38.500 Francisco. It drops in October 2013. What did 00:08:38.500 --> 00:08:41.220 the world think? Generally they loved it. But 00:08:41.220 --> 00:08:43.019 it's nuanced. And looking back, it's actually 00:08:43.019 --> 00:08:45.279 kind of fascinating to see who got it immediately 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:47.580 and who really struggled with it. Okay, let's 00:08:47.580 --> 00:08:49.759 unpack that reception. Because looking at the 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:52.159 numbers, it has a Metacritic score of 79 out 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:55.000 of 100. It's generally favorable, but for an 00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:57.940 album that we now call a classic, 79 seems, I 00:08:57.940 --> 00:08:59.899 don't know, a little low. It reflects the confusion 00:08:59.899 --> 00:09:02.559 of the time. You have to remember, in 2013, this 00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:04.899 sound was entirely alien to a lot of mainstream 00:09:04.899 --> 00:09:07.620 critics. Exclaim was completely on board. They 00:09:07.620 --> 00:09:09.580 called it a contender for the freshest sounding 00:09:09.580 --> 00:09:12.200 album of the year. That's high praise. They noted 00:09:12.200 --> 00:09:14.580 it carried the trademarks of footwork, but incorporated 00:09:14.580 --> 00:09:18.039 all these new ideas. And NME had that great quote. 00:09:18.100 --> 00:09:20.879 They called it the sound of footwork at its most 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:24.559 bonkers. Which honestly sounds like the best 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:26.919 compliment you could possibly give this genre. 00:09:27.139 --> 00:09:29.720 It really does. They praised the innovation in 00:09:29.720 --> 00:09:32.840 a genre that they said reinvents itself almost 00:09:32.840 --> 00:09:36.559 weekly. That speed of reinvention is super characteristic 00:09:36.559 --> 00:09:39.500 of the scene. Mixmag went even further, calling 00:09:39.500 --> 00:09:41.860 it career -defining. So you have these really 00:09:41.860 --> 00:09:44.220 high praises from people who are already plugged 00:09:44.220 --> 00:09:46.320 into the energy. But then you have the dissenting 00:09:46.320 --> 00:09:48.879 voices. And this is where it gets really surprising 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:51.440 for me, looking back. Fact magazine wasn't fully 00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:53.779 on board. No, they weren't. Their critic actually 00:09:53.779 --> 00:09:56.299 called it regressive. Regressive? How do you 00:09:56.299 --> 00:09:58.000 call something that is innovative regressive? 00:09:58.259 --> 00:10:00.080 Well, you have to look at it from the perspective 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:03.460 of a footwork purist. Rashad had done earlier 00:10:03.460 --> 00:10:06.200 work that was much harsher, much more abrasive 00:10:06.200 --> 00:10:09.379 and underground. Fact argued that by comparing 00:10:09.379 --> 00:10:12.139 it to his previous work, Double Cup felt genre 00:10:12.139 --> 00:10:14.580 diluted. Oh, I see. So because he added the R 00:10:14.580 --> 00:10:16.879 &B, the glossy pop elements we talked about, 00:10:17.059 --> 00:10:19.480 they felt he was softening the edges too much. 00:10:19.899 --> 00:10:23.320 Exactly. They saw that accessibility, the very 00:10:23.320 --> 00:10:25.580 thing that eventually allowed it to go global 00:10:25.580 --> 00:10:28.600 as a weakness, they thought he was watering down 00:10:28.600 --> 00:10:31.679 the raw spirit of the genre. That is fascinating. 00:10:31.779 --> 00:10:34.759 It's the classic they sold out argument, but 00:10:34.759 --> 00:10:38.139 framed as genre dilution. And Rolling Stone had 00:10:38.139 --> 00:10:39.659 a mixed take as well, right? Yeah, they did. 00:10:39.779 --> 00:10:42.519 And their critique is really telling about... 00:10:42.700 --> 00:10:44.840 the difficulty of listening to this genre if 00:10:44.840 --> 00:10:47.240 you aren't used to it. They found it thrilling 00:10:47.240 --> 00:10:50.399 in five -minute bursts, but ultimately called 00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:52.360 it a little tiring over the course of a full 00:10:52.360 --> 00:10:55.179 50 -minute LP. A little tiring. You know, when 00:10:55.179 --> 00:10:57.679 you think about 160 BPM for an hour straight, 00:10:57.879 --> 00:11:00.259 I guess I can physically understand that reaction. 00:11:00.580 --> 00:11:03.100 Yeah, it's a lot of audio information to process. 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:04.940 But hold that thought because we are going to 00:11:04.940 --> 00:11:06.700 circle back to that tiring comment when we talk 00:11:06.700 --> 00:11:08.840 about how this album has aged. It's a very important 00:11:08.840 --> 00:11:11.769 point. But first... How did Rashad actually take 00:11:11.769 --> 00:11:14.950 this? I mean, 79 on Metacritic is solid, but 00:11:14.950 --> 00:11:17.370 did he hear the noise about it being diluted? 00:11:17.549 --> 00:11:20.129 By all accounts, he was incredibly humble about 00:11:20.129 --> 00:11:22.210 the whole thing. He was quoted saying he was 00:11:22.210 --> 00:11:24.309 stunned, flattered, and blessed by the reception. 00:11:24.629 --> 00:11:27.509 That's really sweet. He seemed to genuinely appreciate 00:11:27.509 --> 00:11:30.370 that people were listening to Chicago music on 00:11:30.370 --> 00:11:33.110 this kind of global scale. He didn't seem to 00:11:33.110 --> 00:11:34.809 have a chip on his shoulder about the purists 00:11:34.809 --> 00:11:37.029 at all. That makes the tragedy that followed 00:11:37.029 --> 00:11:40.139 even harder to swallow. But before we get to 00:11:40.139 --> 00:11:42.600 the legacy, I want to talk about the retrospective 00:11:42.600 --> 00:11:46.360 shift. Because 2013 was one thing, but 2023, 00:11:46.740 --> 00:11:48.860 a decade later, is a totally different story. 00:11:49.080 --> 00:11:51.720 This is a classic case of art just needing time 00:11:51.720 --> 00:11:54.399 to settle. Sometimes the audience literally needs 00:11:54.399 --> 00:11:57.139 10 years to catch up to the artist. If you look 00:11:57.139 --> 00:11:59.940 at how publications rate the album now, the scores 00:11:59.940 --> 00:12:02.120 have gone up significantly. Give us the numbers. 00:12:02.480 --> 00:12:05.259 Well, AllMusic originally gave it a 4 out of 00:12:05.259 --> 00:12:08.080 5. They have since upgraded that to a perfect 00:12:08.080 --> 00:12:11.240 5 out of 5. Wow, a perfect score. That's a retroactive 00:12:11.240 --> 00:12:13.919 admission of, hey, we missed a spot. And Spectrum 00:12:13.919 --> 00:12:15.860 Culture did something even more dramatic. They 00:12:15.860 --> 00:12:18.200 originally gave it a 2 .5 out of 5, which is 00:12:18.200 --> 00:12:20.980 basically a failing grade. 2 .5, that's brutal. 00:12:21.100 --> 00:12:23.519 It is. But for the reissue, they upgraded it 00:12:23.519 --> 00:12:25.980 to a 4 out of 5. That is a massive jump. That's 00:12:25.980 --> 00:12:28.740 going from this is bad to this is great. It shows 00:12:28.740 --> 00:12:31.200 that what sounded tiring or confusing to people 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:35.000 in 2013 now sounds like a masterpiece. Pitchfork 00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:38.279 also completely cemented its status. They placed 00:12:38.279 --> 00:12:40.419 it on their best albums of the decade so far 00:12:40.419 --> 00:12:44.039 list in 2014. And by 2019, it was number 20 on 00:12:44.039 --> 00:12:46.460 their best albums of the 2010s overall. So it 00:12:46.460 --> 00:12:49.200 went from generally favorable to a decade defining 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:52.299 classic. Precisely. The tiring repetition that 00:12:52.299 --> 00:12:54.889 Rolling Stone complained about. We now recognize 00:12:54.889 --> 00:12:58.169 that as the hypnotic mantra like quality that 00:12:58.169 --> 00:13:00.850 defines the entire genre and the dilution that 00:13:00.850 --> 00:13:03.409 names fact and complained about. We now see that 00:13:03.409 --> 00:13:06.029 as the necessary evolution that allowed the genre 00:13:06.029 --> 00:13:08.429 to survive and grow. And that leads us to the 00:13:08.429 --> 00:13:10.759 legacy. Because we can't ignore the fact that 00:13:10.759 --> 00:13:12.779 Rashad isn't here to see this re -evaluation. 00:13:13.019 --> 00:13:15.279 No. As we said at the start, it was the soulful 00:13:15.279 --> 00:13:17.379 length released while he was alive. And just 00:13:17.379 --> 00:13:20.100 recently, we hit the 10th anniversary in 2023. 00:13:20.500 --> 00:13:22.840 That was a big moment. On December 8th, 2023, 00:13:23.200 --> 00:13:25.360 they released a reissue. They did. And they kept 00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:26.720 it in the family, which I think is beautiful. 00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:29.759 It included a new cover, still designed by Ashes57, 00:13:30.159 --> 00:13:32.580 and a bonus track called Last Winter that had 00:13:32.580 --> 00:13:34.740 previously only been available on the CD version. 00:13:35.039 --> 00:13:37.320 It's really nice that they kept the visual identity 00:13:37.320 --> 00:13:40.600 with the exact same designer. It keeps that connection 00:13:40.600 --> 00:13:43.340 to the roots intact. Absolutely. And looking 00:13:43.340 --> 00:13:45.759 back at that 10 -year mark, the consensus is 00:13:45.759 --> 00:13:47.940 pretty clear. This specific album is credited 00:13:47.940 --> 00:13:50.799 with globally popularizing footwork. It broke 00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:53.000 the containment field of Chicago. It really did. 00:13:53.820 --> 00:13:56.320 Mixmag, in a retrospective, called it one of 00:13:56.320 --> 00:13:58.519 the most influential and innovative albums of 00:13:58.519 --> 00:14:01.500 the last decade. And The Quietest had a quote 00:14:01.500 --> 00:14:04.120 from back in 2013 that feels almost prophetic 00:14:04.120 --> 00:14:07.139 now. They said, Rashad is someone who knows how 00:14:07.139 --> 00:14:10.000 to signpost a good legacy. Signpost a good legacy. 00:14:10.159 --> 00:14:12.580 That gives me chills. It suggests he knew exactly 00:14:12.580 --> 00:14:14.620 what he was doing. He was planting a flag. He 00:14:14.620 --> 00:14:16.899 was saying to everyone, this is where the genre 00:14:16.899 --> 00:14:19.899 goes next. So what does this all mean for you 00:14:19.899 --> 00:14:22.759 listening at home? We've got this album born 00:14:22.759 --> 00:14:25.600 from a crew of friends fueled by cannabis and 00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:28.480 pure creativity that somehow managed to bridge 00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:31.899 the gap between gritty street dance battles and 00:14:31.899 --> 00:14:34.700 high concept electronic art. I think that's the 00:14:34.700 --> 00:14:37.330 key takeaway. Double Cup wasn't just a collection 00:14:37.330 --> 00:14:40.370 of tracks, it was a bridge. It took a genre that 00:14:40.370 --> 00:14:43.009 was very athletic, very intense, and sometimes 00:14:43.009 --> 00:14:46.009 genuinely hard for outsiders to grasp, and it 00:14:46.009 --> 00:14:48.029 gave it a language that the wider world could 00:14:48.029 --> 00:14:50.409 understand. It translated the frenetic energy 00:14:50.409 --> 00:14:53.230 of the footwork circle into something you could 00:14:53.230 --> 00:14:55.330 actually sit and listen to on headphones. Exactly. 00:14:56.029 --> 00:14:58.350 And it did that without losing its edge, despite 00:14:58.350 --> 00:15:01.190 what Fact magazine thought at the time. It proved 00:15:01.190 --> 00:15:03.450 that footwork wasn't just some local curiosity. 00:15:03.789 --> 00:15:06.450 It was a serious musical movement with depth, 00:15:06.570 --> 00:15:09.250 soul, and real staying power. It feels like it 00:15:09.250 --> 00:15:10.870 opened the door for everything that came after 00:15:10.870 --> 00:15:13.289 in that scene. If you listen to modern electronic 00:15:13.289 --> 00:15:16.450 music, whether it's jungle, drum and bass, or 00:15:16.450 --> 00:15:19.269 even mainstream pop, you hear those rapid -fire 00:15:19.269 --> 00:15:21.980 triplets now. You're that double cup DNA. It 00:15:21.980 --> 00:15:24.559 absolutely did. It normalized that speed. It 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:27.480 taught our ears how to process 160 BPM without 00:15:27.480 --> 00:15:29.820 getting tired. It's a great reminder that sometimes 00:15:29.820 --> 00:15:32.399 the most important art comes from the most casual 00:15:32.399 --> 00:15:35.509 environments. Just friends, hanging out, making 00:15:35.509 --> 00:15:37.549 music they love. And trusting that collaboration 00:15:37.549 --> 00:15:40.470 makes it better. That's the tech life way. Exactly. 00:15:40.950 --> 00:15:43.190 Well, we're coming to the end of our deep dive. 00:15:43.429 --> 00:15:46.029 We've gone from the aerial view of Chicago to 00:15:46.029 --> 00:15:48.710 the apartment in San Francisco, through the skeptical 00:15:48.710 --> 00:15:51.929 reviews of 2013, and into the history books where 00:15:51.929 --> 00:15:54.309 this album belongs. It's been quite a journey 00:15:54.309 --> 00:15:56.259 to look back on. I want to leave you with one 00:15:56.259 --> 00:15:58.740 final thought to mull over. We talked about how 00:15:58.740 --> 00:16:01.360 Rolling Stone called the Elver tiring in 2013, 00:16:01.580 --> 00:16:05.799 and how Spectrum Culture gave it a 2 .5. Now, 00:16:05.799 --> 00:16:08.580 it's hailed as a perfect masterpiece. It makes 00:16:08.580 --> 00:16:10.840 you wonder what album came out this year that 00:16:10.840 --> 00:16:13.720 critics are calling repetitive, noisy or tiring 00:16:13.720 --> 00:16:15.519 just because they haven't learned how to listen 00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:18.019 to it yet. That is the question. The avant -garde 00:16:18.019 --> 00:16:20.059 always sounds like noise until it sounds like 00:16:20.059 --> 00:16:22.159 history. Something to think about next time you 00:16:22.159 --> 00:16:24.639 hit play on a new genre. Thanks for listening 00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:26.480 to The Deep Dive. We'll catch you on the next 00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:26.620 one.