Master at Work: araabMUZIK's Live EDM Recreations

With the rise of trap within EDM over the last year, we've seen some interesting developments and figures ascend through the ranks, many who without t

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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With the rise of trap within EDM over the last year, we've seen some interesting developments and figures ascend through the ranks, many who without trap would probably not have a seat at the table. Guys like Carnage and Baauer were relative unknowns before the trap phenomenon, and have been two of the more talked about names over the last year. Someone like araabMUZIK, however, was already known before entering this next phase due to his extensive work with Cam'ron and the Diplomats (among other hip-hop acts), but his experimentation with the MPC and sampling dance music turned into this wildly unique lane for him, where he creates (and re-creates) a number of different EDM styles live with the MPC. And even though he puts out new material (including his Ultra Music release, The Remixes, Vol. 1), the best way to experience his work is in a live setting, just araabMUZIK and his MPC.

While he maintains his hip-hop aesthetic, the dubstep and trance source material and undertones in his EDM output cannot be dismissed, and over the last few years, he's come alive during his live shows, showcasing not only how quick and nimble he is at knocking out beats live, but at how he can manipulate music from the likes of Skrillex, Baauer, and Flux Pavilion with his knack for live remixing. His work has been committed to video over the years, but these are our favorites featuring his EDM zone.

1500M2, Warsaw

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This might be one of the first clips many saw featuring araabMUZIK recreating dubstep in a live setting. Skrillex's "Cinema" remix is the material, and he properly knocks this one out. Peep the breakdown in the middle, where he goes from a grip of repetitious sounds right back into the groove. Life changing.

Home Studio Performance, 2013

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araabMUZIK killing it for 11+ minutes in his home studio? Even if you're not a fan of the more Skrillex/brosteppy side of dubstep, you can't deny that his ability to mimic that style live, with all of his inflections, is amazing.

"Streetz Tonight" (Surveillance)

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This clip was done pretty slickly, with a voyeuristic security footage feel to it, following araabMUZIK to his room, where he sits down at the MPC and recreates Electronic Dream's "Streetz Tonight" (which is what got Adam K pissed off in the first place) as part of Pitchfork's "Surveillance" series.

Boiler Room NYC

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araabMUZIK in a legendary Boiler Room session? The way he recreates tunes on the fly, letting the original play, then totally putting his intense MPC workout on them, is a thing of beauty.

FACT TV's MPC Masterclass

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Before hitting London's Fabric nightclub, FACT got araabMUZIK to perform for one of their live production sessions. We're pretty sure that no one doing it today could teach you the MPC better than araabMUZIK.

MPC Minute

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Akai let araabMUZIK get loose on their MPC Renaissance, and out came a minute's worth of fierce, dubstep-influenced awesomeness.

HARD Day of the Dead (November 2012)

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Taken from the HARD Day of the Dead show in Nobember of 2012, araabMUZIK starts this set off properly, reworking Baauer's "Harlem Shake" like you've never heard done before.

The Creator's Project, Brazil

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For araabMUZIK's performance, skip to three minutes and 57 seconds into the video. You might remember some of these routines, but it's great to see him get the Brazilian crowd hype over his work.

Movement: DEMF 2012

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While the video was taken at a distance, the audio is great for a live performance, and hearing him totally go all kinds of insane over some of the biggest dubstep tracks out there is intense.

Rhythm & Vines (December 2012)

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Reemmber when we spoke on araabMUZIK's rise in EDM coinciding with the sound of trap in the same circles? Catch this clip of him performing at Rhythm & Vines, where he flips tracks like Gent & Jawn's "Turn Up" and the RL Grime & Salva remix of Kanye West's "Mercy" in his own flavor.

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