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MC Ride

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MC Ride
Stefan Burnett performing with Death Grips at Festsaal Kreuzberg in 2012.
Background information
Birth nameStefan Corbin Burnett
Also known asMxlplx
OriginSacramento, California, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
Years active2003–present[1]
Labels
Websitestefanburnett.com

Stefan Corbin Burnett,[2] better known by his stage name MC Ride, is an American rapper and visual artist. He is best known as the frontman of Sacramento-based experimental hip hop group Death Grips. Burnett is credited for his dismal, cryptic lyrics and aggressive rapping style.

Biography

Burnett had studied visual art at Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia before his music career. After dropping out, he performed under the alias MxlPlx and formed a hip hop group called Fyre with his brother Swank Daddy and another Sacramento-based rapper, Young G.[3] The project came to an end after his brother was married and was unable to continue with the group.[4] During this time, Burnett worked at a pizza restaurant in Sacramento and pursued a career as a painter.[4]

In 2010, Burnett formed Death Grips with his neighbor Zach Hill, who was known for his drumming work for Hella and session work. Hill introduced his friend, producer Andy Morin and the group began working together.[5][6] After releasing their self-titled debut EP,[7] Death Grips released the mixtape Exmilitary, which received critical acclaim and attention from music publications.[6][8] The group signed to Epic Records in 2012 and released their debut album, The Money Store the same year.[4]

In 2012, the group leaked its second album, No Love Deep Web, due to Epic Records' hesitance to release it until 2013 (which caused them to be dropped from Epic Records soon after).[9][10][11] The group subsequently released a third album, titled Government Plates in 2013. The first disc of their fourth album, The Powers That B, was released in 2014.[12] On July 2, 2014, Death Grips announced its disbandment, yet they still released an instrumental soundtrack on January 4, 2015 and the second disc of The Powers That B on March 19, 2015.[13] They released their fifth studio album Bottomless Pit in May 2016, their first full-length release with entirely brand new recorded material (as a full band) since their alleged disbandment.[14]

Artistry

MC Ride's vocal delivery was described as "an even more visceral and poetic form of rapping" and was compared to "a blend of hardcore punk and spoken word performance."[15] His style was also described as "paint-peeling barks and startling yelps."[16] On his review for Death Grips' Exmilitary, Nate Patrin commented on MC Ride's vocals: "Monolithic and harsh, his voice sounds powerful doubling up the beats to the point where it doesn't even seem like a problem when it's halfway buried in the mix."[17] Evan Rytelewski of The A.V. Club described his voice as "another instrument of abrasion as he hollers in a voice so tattered and blown-out it must physically pain him," while reviewing The Money Store.[18]

MC Ride’s lyrics are described as "chants and rants, rhythmic elements that are barely intelligible — though full of bleak, deranged or drugged-out thoughts."[19] MC Ride's lyrics engage with various topics, including sex, recreational drug use, addiction, occultism, economic collapse, insanity, suicide, paranoia and techno-futurism.[20] John Calvert of The Quietus wrote: "Death Grips embroils MC Ride's consciousness in a schematised Braque-esque maze, a gloaming constellation, a synaptic thing."[21] Chase Woodruff of Slant Magazine argued that MC Ride's lyrics "hint at a contemporary, vaguely political edge to all his rage and alienation."[22] Similarly James Ubaghs of The Quietus wrote: "MC Ride's paranoid, politically-charged ravings might not present any sort of solution to the world's myriad ills, but he is at the least paying close attention to how fucked things really are, and that's more than you can say for a lot of his contemporaries."[23]

In spite of his intense stage presence, MC Ride is described as "reclusive" and "super private" by his bandmate Zach Hill and is seen as quiet and introverted in interviews.[20][24] In a Pitchfork interview, he stated although he has favorite musicians such as Jimi Hendrix, he is more inspired by himself and his internal struggles rather than human achievements.[25]

Discography

With Death Grips
Main article: Death Grips discography

References

  1. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20031106161040/http://www.inthecuts.net/mxlplx.html
  2. ^ BMI. "BMI Repertoire Search". BMI. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
  3. ^ Huddleston, Josh (May 3, 2013). "Past Grippin: MC Ride of Death Grips Previous Material". Americanaftermath.net. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  4. ^ a b c Weingarten, Christopher R. (November 20, 2012). "Artist of the Year: Death Grips". Spin. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  5. ^ "Death Grips: Satanic Hip-Hop with No Expectations". Sabotage Times. February 9, 2013. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  6. ^ a b "Suspicious Minds - The Resolute Mission Of Death Grips". Clash Music. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  7. ^ Gibsone, Harriet (June 9, 2014). "Death Grips land a 'thrilled' Björk on their new album". The Guardian. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  8. ^ "Death Grips - Exmilitary review". Drowned in Sound.
  9. ^ Raymond, Adam K. (June 21, 2013). "Public Enemy and Death Grips Use New BitTorrent Bundle to Connect With Fans". Spin. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
  10. ^ "Death Grips defy their label with free album release - listen". NME. October 1, 2012. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
  11. ^ Stutz, Colin (2012-11-02). "Death Grips Dropped By Epic Records Following Album Leak". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
  12. ^ "Death Grips drop surprise, Björk-featuring album niggas on the moon; download it now". Fact. June 8, 2014. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  13. ^ Minsker, Evan (July 2, 2014). "Death Grips Break Up". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
  14. ^ https://www.facebook.com/deathgripz/posts/1043779955667183
  15. ^ "Death Grips Implode Punk and Rap Borders on New LP". Rolling Stone. April 24, 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  16. ^ Kivel, Adam (December 12, 2012). "Band of the Year: Death Grips". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  17. ^ Patrin, Nate (June 30, 2011). "Death Grips: Exmilitary". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  18. ^ Rytlewski, Evan. "Death Grips: The Money Store". May 1, 2012. The A.V. Club. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  19. ^ Parales, Jon (November 29, 2013). "Offerings From Nashville, the Kitchen and This Side of Twisted". The New York Times. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  20. ^ a b Gieben, Bram E. (May 2, 2012). "Death Grips: "There's a lot of recycling and destruction in the making of our music"". The Skinny. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
  21. ^ Calvert, John (July 14, 2011). "Relentless Raw Movement: Death Grips Interviewed". The Quietus. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  22. ^ Woodruff, Chase (November 17, 2013). "Death Grips - Government Plates". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  23. ^ Ubaghs, James (November 20, 2013). "Death Grips - Government Plates". The Quietus. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  24. ^ Greene, Jayson (April 25, 2012). "Death Grips". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
  25. ^ November 19, 2012. "Death Grips Discuss Moving Forward". Pitchfork.tv. Retrieved June 20, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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