MALAA might have gotten off to a slow start in 2016, but the “anonymous” DJ/producer artist project has just turned out an EP sure to bring G house back to the forefront of electronic music fans’ awareness. The Illicit EP consists of four menacing tracks that have arrived by way of Tchami’s Confession imprint.
To be fair, the first song of the EP is more of a monologue than an actual track. A pitched-down voice tells the listener, “This is MALAA music. You can listen to this shit at the club and go rob a bank afterwards.”
After that, though, the remaining tracks of the EP successfully expand the stylistic range of G house without abandoning its trademark grit. “Diamonds” (which was debuted last week) counterbalances its testosterone-laden vocal samples with bright steel drum samples while “Frequency 75” uses even more eclectic production elements and “Danger” utilizes wobbles that liken it a bit more to the bass house genre.
While MALAA hasn’t officially revealed his/her/their identity, it’s all but confirmed to be a joint project between DJ Snake, Tchami and Mercer. Similar to Marshmello, each artist’s contributions to the endeavor – whether in the studio or onstage – are speculated to vary.
You can stream MALAA‘s Illicit EP in its entirety by clicking on the SoundCloud embed above, and purchase it here if you dig it. With any luck, the EP will be a sign of more to come from the masked artist in the coming months.
