Baltimore producer, Runnit, has been absolutely tearing up the underground bass music scene lately. With massive originals and collabs (see ‘Mug Club V1,’ a huge 9 person collab Runnit orchestrated), he is paving his own lane with forward-thinking, trap influenced bangers. Runnit fuses a lot of hip-hop vocals into his productions, but also implores a gritty sound design that remains delightfully wonky. And it’s being heard by some big names like Oski and Zed’s Dead, who have played his tracks in recent mixes. We got a chance to catch up with Runnit to discuss his music, Partica Artist Group, and more. If you haven’t heard of Runnit yet, be prepared to be run up on this mix, with unreleased tracks from himself, fellow Partica members and a choice select of wonky tunes, Runnit flexes his style in an aggressive, trapped out fashion.
What was on your mind while crafting this mix? Any exclusive goodies or upcoming tracks in here you’re excited to release?
Oh 100% I threw a couple in here that I have big plans with including ID collabs with TVBOO, Kayoh, U.O.ME, and more. I asked some friends to send me their heat as well so that you can get a preview of what the gang has in store for the rest of 2019.
What got you into EDM/trap and ultimately producing?
I started producing beats before EDM was even a tagline haha. I used to make beats for rappers when I was in college and recorded bands for extra cash. That was my “in” with producing and mixing. After that I started listening to genres like glitch Hop, moombahton, and finally the earlier stages of trap with people like Gladiator, Bro Safari, Jackal, etc. That’s what ultimately took me away from my earlier projects and made me focus my rap beat skills with a more electronic focus.
Baltimore is really a tough city to try to build an electronic scene in general.
What’s the Baltimore bass scene like right now?
Baltimore is really a tough city to try to build an electronic scene in general. There are a few bigger companies around the area but there really isn’t a lot of love for trap or bass Music. You see a lot of local lineups sprout up but most of them are in other genres like house and riddim and DnB. There is a rich history of warehouse raves and underground events in our city which is awesome but just not to listen to my type of music.
2019 seems to have been a big year for Runnit, with your Dog Blood Flip of ‘Turn Out The Lights’ getting played by Bonnie X Clyde at EDC Las Vegas and in Oski’s Ignition Mix to name a few. How does it feel to hear your music being played by artists like this?
2019 has been an insane year so far when I look back! I can’t believe all the support and people reaching out every time I drop a track, I’m so hugely grateful for it. It gets busy between working a full-time job, co-running Partica, and trying to create at 100% after all that each day. I just hope to one day be able to give back and help support other’s tracks on a big scale the way Oski, San Holo, Bonnie x Clyde, & Zeds Dead have for me this year!
I had the idea to start Partica out of a frustration with a couple things: my local scene, the “isolation” many of us feel as producers, and trouble rebuilding a brand (this is my 3rd Alias…)
As one of the co-founders of Partica Artist Group what inspired you to start Partica?
I had the idea to start Partica out of a frustration with a couple things: my local scene, the “isolation” many of us feel as producers, and trouble rebuilding a brand (this is my 3rd Alias I’ve been through at this point lol). Partica was originally started as an account we ran that just posted playlists highlighting top bass tracks each week trying to promote good underground artists like me. Gurf is from the same area and I reached out to him to help, since he has a strong social media mind and a ton of additional skills that would help be able to build us into an actual network and label! Together we co-run it and have ran the account off the same principles of giving back, promoting talented artists, and trying to foster community around our brand of bass music.
Partica really gives back to the community with free tracks and sample packs. Not a lot of organizations do that, what prompted that decision?
We give out free samples because it helps keep people connected to our brand, builds our artist’s pages, and motivates others to push their productions further. We find that it can be a win-win for our artists and for outside artists who want some extra sounds to play with in their DAW.
The majority of my vocals come from mp3 acapellas or promo Vinyls (the ones with instrumental & acapella on the B-side). I just dig through and pull one-liners out that I like
Your last release ‘LETIGO’ features vocal samples from multiple rappers. You’re certainly no stranger to sampling. How do you go about selecting which elements from songs you include in your music?
Really vibed with how that track came out! Surprisingly the majority of the vocals in that track were added by Litty McGuire, but personally I have my own folders of acapellas I rip pieces from as inspiration. The majority of my vocals come from mp3 acapellas or promo Vinyls (the ones with instrumental & acapella on the B-side). I just dig through and pull one-liners out that I like and save them in folders based on whether they are a loop or a oneshot (hey, oh, what, etc). From there it’s just rinse and repeat till you have a huge stack of startup vocal ideas.
What are some of your passions outside of music?
Outside of music I like to play games like Battlefield & Rocket League (hence the Monstercat Inverness Remix) haha. I try to get out on the weekends occasionally to hike as well because nature is always great inspiration for music. Outside of that my day job and Partica keep me extra busy!
Anything else you have coming in 2019 you’d like to talk about?
I have some shows I’m lining up in the next couple months that I’m extra excited about, hopefully be able to travel and play somewhere since the DMV hasn’t caught on to me yet lol. Partica also does these meetups called “RipNWip” where we go over each other’s new track ideas and then rip vinyl samples together. We are in the process of converting it into a public monthly event in my area so that’ll be exciting to build community physically the same way we push to do online.
Tracklist
Runnit – Mug Club V1 (feat. XTALS, Klavay, bd hbt, Gurf, DHITTO, ZCR, XAVIER, & RAFTYR)
Sfam x leet – ID
YBN Cordae – Have Mercy
Hot Mess – ID (More Creativity Records)
Chaca x gir – TALK
RVKIT – ID (Partica Artist Group)
Runnit x TVBOO – ID
Moore Kismet – ID
Hollimon – ID (Partica Artist Group)
Sixpaths – I Like To
Brainrack x BIG RED – ID
Scullion – ID
GAWM x Runnit – ID
XTALS – ID
Runnit x Litty McGuire – LETIGO
Gurf x Danforth – ID
Kizer – ID
UOME x Runnit – ID
CRaymak – WHOMP
THRPY x Golden Child – ID (Partica Artist Group)
XTALS – Plain Jane Remix (unreleased)
Vide – ID
Yojas – ID
Jordnmoody x s∅mething – ID (Partica Artist Group x Myopic Sounds)
Ski Mask The Slump God – Foot Fungus
L’Homie – ID (Partica Artist Group)
Inimicvs – Bee Hive (w/ DILIP, ANKA, & otxhello)
Runnit x Kayoh – ID
