George Clanton is a jack of all trades, and master of each one. Over the past decade, he’s curated the world’s first vaporwave festival, established his own record label, and written ethereal music under three different names. In the midst of it all, Clanton also dedicated himself to perfecting his latest release, Ooh Rap I Ya.
Ethereal and Existential
Seamlessly blending ‘90s nostalgia and modern mixing magic, Ooh Rap I Ya embodies a sound that is almost entirely otherworldly. It’s wholly enveloping, submerging listeners in a sea of sound with faraway vocals and drum beats that crash like waves. Synthwaves add even more texture to the album, while Clanton’s existential questions echo alongside guitar riffs that would make any shoegaze fan proud.
“Hanging on to every grudge I think I need to hold
Can’t remember who I’m even fighting anymore
You’d think I’d know my way by now
But I’m lost and now I can’t be found”
– “I Been Young,” Ooh Rap I Ya
Each song pulls no punches. “Everything I Want” kicks off the album with a chilling sense of power, establishing a momentum that never falters. Tracks like “Justify Your Life” and “F.U.M.L.” wear their inspirations proudly, embodying the genius of Depeche Mode and Tears for Fears, laying distant vocals over booming beats and twinkling synthwaves. Ooh Rap I Ya also experiments with elements of trip hop, invoking the hazy moodiness of artists like Beth Gibbons with the attitude and pulsing beats of Massive Attack. “I Been Young” is reminiscent of that sense of trepidation and underlying beauty in Aphex Twin’s …I Care Because You Do.
Each song has its own distinct feel, and wields Clanton’s inspirations to create an entirely new, cohesive whole. Ooh Rap I Ya is many things – it embraces so many genres and ideas, but it also embodies the evolution of Clanton as an artist, and even the underground Internet music scene altogether.
Inspiration and Legacy
Ooh Rap I Ya is an album five years in the making and acts as the dazzling, fiery culmination of Clanton’s extensive history in the underground scene. While he never set out for mainstream spotlight, Clanton is a living legend among the Internet music and vaporwave community – after all, so much of his work is what helped bring the scene to new heights. Ooh Rap I Ya is yet another continuation of this trend. Much of the nostalgic inspiration fueling Clanton’s latest release is also central to his past productions that act as a pillar of modern vaporwave, taking the genre and doing something entirely new with it to make it unique to Clanton.
Clanton is once again coming back to the stage after his recent tour with Caroline Polachek. His vaporwave festival ElectroniCON returns on August 25th, with huge names in the alternative Internet scene making appearances. death’s dynamic shroud, DOSS, and architecture in tokyo are all set to perform alongside Clanton. ElectroniCON will be followed by a tour of the U.S. and Canada, with the energetic sibling duo Frost Children as supporting acts.
