Artist Spotlight: Levit∆te and 808 Mafia

Seattle. The Pacific Northwest’s music mecca. A city that is home to many different walks of life and genres of music, including grunge, classic rock, and now electronic music.

I want to put a spotlight on one of the Pacific Northwest’s up and coming electronic artists, Levit∆te. His music can’t be fully defined without using more than one genre. His hip-hop influenced beats blend so perfectly with the heavy synths he uses. Levit∆te has collaborated multiple times with bass kingpin Bassnectar, as well as fellow PNW native, Macntaj.

I had the opportunity to digitally speak with Levit∆te recently and I asked him a few questions. Check out what he had to say below.

RMR: What & who inspired you to start playing music? What is the greatest thing that you’ve gotten out of your experience as Levit∆te?

LT: It was the DJs in my hometown actually. I had seen a friend of mine DJing a snowboard event back in 2009 or so and I was immediately hypnotized. all the gear, and turntable-ism had me completely shook. It was a mixture of that, and my need to hear hip hop vocals on electronic songs. My immediate thought when hearing early dubstep like Mt Eden, and Noisia was, “yooooo but what if a rapper got on this” that need for satisfaction was probably the biggest kickstarter to just want to make that happen myself. The greatest thing I have gotten out of LEViT∆TE is life experiences. These past 2 years, I have traveled more, and seen more cities/ met more people than I ever have, and its impacted me in an unforgettable way, specifically basscenter 2016 was the strongest experience.

RMR: You’ve gotten significant recognition from not only your hometown of Seattle, but from major artists, most noticably from Bassnectar. How did your relationship begin with him?

LT: He was a fan! haha believe it or not. his management had shown him a song I did about 3+ years ago called “Godstatus” and he had this super positive excited reaction. so much so, his team reached out to tell me they supported my music

RMR: I’ve seen your graphics and other artwork that you’ve done. Do you do your own cover art? And Is there anything you’d like to say to your fans and peers?

LT: the art is about 60/40 me and Chris (HPNTK) from Block Society.I do some of mine, but he does the majority if they are released on Block Society. And of course, every now and then, a label will provide a designer, or I will find another artist I’m a fan of to do something. It’s really fair game, but it’s always curated by yours truly. That’s important to me.

RMR: Is there anything you’d like to say to your fans and peers?

LT: I would like to mention, for this song, “Black Mass” this is the beginning of a much larger statement from me/LEViT∆TE this year. Moving forward, this is electronic hip-hop. This isn’t festival music, this isn’t club bangers, what I’m doing from here forward is straight electronic hip-hop, no question/ no debate. It’s important, that I separate myself from EDM as an entity, that’s not me, and frankly, it never was. Therefore the vision should be clear, this song is the product of what happens when you mix one of the most prominent and seasoned (real) Atlanta trap music producers in the world, and an electronic hip-hop producer. My releases from here out will echo a similar sentiment/ artistic statement.

I hope yall you enjoy it.

I’m doing this artist spotlight for Levit∆te in celebration of his most recent track. “Black Mass” was released 5 days ago, and features Fuse from 808 Mafia. 808 Mafia is known for producing tracks for Riff Raff, Gucci Mane, Future, and 2 Chainz to name a few. I’ll be choosing my top 5 favorite tracks from not only Levit∆te but from tracks that 808 Mafia produced.

Black Mass – Levit∆te & Fuse 808 Mafia

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This track is one of Levit∆te’s darker tracks. Paired with Fuse, they make a killing of “Black Mass”. The melodic drop after the first hook opens up the song to a lot more than it could have been,and I’d have to say that the lead plucks paired with the snare rolls is perfect. Then it comes to a sudden halt with a system crash, but comes back to fruition with metallic heavy breathing and an eerily sounding choir. All around great track. Kudos to these two. I hope to see Fuse and Levit∆te collaborate again soon.

Moves – Big Sean (Prod. 808 Mafia)

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This track may be just under two and a half minutes, but that doesn’t discount the fact that 808 Mafia made this track a banger. I’m slightly biased with Big Sean so it’s no doubt I had to feature this track. I featured this song because of the talent both Big Sean and 808 Mafia has. Big Sean has a unique flow whenever he raps, and it can be masked by the overzealous producer that wants the track done “their way”. Big Sean’s lyrics were flawless and weren’t masked by the beat or the lead synths in this track.

Chasing Heaven – Levit∆te & Bassnectar

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This is the song that not only got me into Bassnectar, but also introduced me to Levit∆te. Both the artists go all out to create something absolutely beautiful. Whenever I feel sad or lonely, I go for a drive and put on a certain mixtape CD I have in my car. This is one of the first songs that’s on the CD. There are very few times where my mindset isn’t changed for the better after listening to that song. This track is very emotional and positive. It makes me hopeful for a better future.

Carlos Slim – Riff Raff (Prod. 808 Mafia)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vAqaUwLg7g&w=140&h=79]

Yeah, I put Riff Raff in here. Fight me. I’ve been a huge fan of him for a while because of his unconventional humorous lyrics. 808 Mafia actually produced more than one song from Riff Raff’s Peach Panther album, but I have got to say that 808 Mafia made Riff Sound more intense with this song. G-Eazy and J. Doe definitely helped make “Mercedez” a banger but with this song, it was just Jody Highroller with the lyrics, which makes this one the better track.

Hands Up – Levit∆te

This final track was featured on the “Miami 2017” collaborative mixtape, and features many artists from not only the house genre, but bass as well, from the likes of UZ, Hydraulix, and Jordan Comolli (which I feel sounds very similar to Levit∆te. I personally think they’d sound amazing together). This track is another melodic track with future bass and trap influences. The one thing I liked in particular with this track was the use of vocal chops. Many people try to do it, but most fail to impress. I am thoroughly impressed with this track’s use of those chops.

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