Adrian Younge’s Younge stands as his most fully realised statement to date: an orchestral album written from the perspective of a hip hop producer, and a hip hop record shaped with the discipline of classical and cinematic composition. Rather than leaning on pastiche, Younge draws directly from the lineage of emotionally charged, forward-thinking music that later fed hip hop through sampling culture.
Inspired by composers such as Lalo Schifrin, David Axelrod, Ennio Morricone and Galt MacDermot — alongside the widescreen atmospherics associated with Geoff Barrow — Younge balances grandeur with grit. Lush orchestration, dramatic pacing and melodic tension sit alongside a beatmaker’s instinct for mood, repetition and impact.
The result is a record that feels both timeless and deeply rooted in hip hop’s history, honouring the cinematic soul and orchestral funk that quietly shaped the genre long before it was formally acknowledged. Younge plays like a soundtrack to an unwritten film: expansive, purposeful and uncompromising in its vision.
Inspired by composers such as Lalo Schifrin, David Axelrod, Ennio Morricone and Galt MacDermot — alongside the widescreen atmospherics associated with Geoff Barrow — Younge balances grandeur with grit. Lush orchestration, dramatic pacing and melodic tension sit alongside a beatmaker’s instinct for mood, repetition and impact.
The result is a record that feels both timeless and deeply rooted in hip hop’s history, honouring the cinematic soul and orchestral funk that quietly shaped the genre long before it was formally acknowledged. Younge plays like a soundtrack to an unwritten film: expansive, purposeful and uncompromising in its vision.
Pickup available at Dreamhouse Records London
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