As Future continues to dominate in 2016, Vancouver-based production duo Live Evil have unveiled a tribute to the Atlanta hitmaker. Members Marvel and Kutcorners (also of Vancity DJ crew The Freshest) have cooked up Future Evil, a 4-song EP that recontextualizes some of Super Future’s biggest hits.
On their Future Evil EP, Live Evil transform Future’s discography, without losing the prolific rapper’s signature sound in the process.They give “Shit” a finger-snapping makeover, swapping out Mike Will Made It’s menacing trap instrumental for something bouncier. Pluto standout “Magic” goes synth-happy, “Move That Dope” becomes a banger in a different category altogether, and “Honest” blurs the lines between futuristic hip-hop and ‘80s analog glory. In a word? Sensational.
Listen to the EP below in full, premiering exclusively on Complex.
We spoke to Live Evil about Future Evil, and Vancouver’s exploding electronic music scene. Read the interview below.
What brought about the inspiration for Future Evil?
We play a weekly rap night on Sunday in Vancouver, and we are big fans of Future’s music. We had made a bunch of instrumentals, and one of them as far back as 2012 (“Magic”), when we first noticed future popping with “Same Damn Time” and such. We made a few other beats and realized we had enough to do an EP in tribute to such an influential artist.
With the run Future is on, there’s no shortage of material to pick from. What made you pick these 4 songs?
[laughs] Well there is a limitation to how many Future studio acapellas that are available. These are songs we know intimately, and I think are arguably his most recognizable hits.
Have you dropped any of these in your recent sets? How have reactions been?
Many times. They have been getting good reactions on the dance floor, and also from the homies in the booth looking to see what we’re playing. It’s important to play your own material to distinguish yourself these days. We slip them into our DJ sets and you’ll likely see these pop up in more of our live sets.
You’re getting some attention for your “live remix performances.” For anyone who hasn’t made it to a gig, what does that look and sound like?
Our live performances take our production aesthetic and apply it to a club environment. We bring out our synths, drum pads, and turntables, and break down our remixes live. It creates a great atmosphere and is a real show with visuals. We want to bring that feeling you get when you see a band perform, but in a DJ context. Lots of energy, a real performance with a sinister vibe.
How does Live Evil differ from what you do in The Freshest?
With the Live Evil project, we still focus on our club and rap and R&B influence, but it has a darker twist to it, more menacing and modern. The Freshest also includes our really good friends Seko and Rico Uno, so we thought this was something we could develop as its own entity and allow The Freshest to stay as it is as a DJ collective/crew for parties, events, mixes, and edits.
What’s happening in Vancouver’s electronic music scene right now?
It’s exploding! we have so many talented artists popping off and plenty on the rise. Joseph L’Etranger, Shaunic, Tails, Rook Milo, Pomo, Laberge, and other friends, like Falcons, U-Tern, Pat Lok, Ekali, are all doing so well. It seems like it’s really blossoming these days, with the democratization of the Internet and Soundcloud, and Bandcamp. We could easily play a night of all of our favourite artist from Vancouver and it would be banging. Come to think of it, we should!
Now that the Future remix EP is done, what’s next?
The focus right now is to produce some more original material. We want to find and work with artists on the rise, and build up Vancouver even more, and share our sound with the rest of the world.
