Hope One is one of Hong Kong’s most well-exposed dub artists. Given that he’s hardly known… is really a sad indictment of the HK music scene at large (style over substance, with the high rent prices crushing creativity), but also exposes the overall lack of reggae, dub and bass music specifically. Thankfully, things are improving due to the promotional efforts of Heavy Hong Kong as well as Australian net-label Dub Temple Records, whose roster features both Hope One and Blood Dunza from HK. Dub Temple has recently released Hope One’s Scientist Beat Tape (Side A), which is a well-composed tribute to one of dub’s originators and foremost contributors. Hope One finds the balance between influence and innovation, producing inspired beats filled with looped vocals, clipped drums, and synths, all dripping with heady reverb. In case that weren’t enough, Dub Temple’s latest podcast features DJ sets by Hope One and Epoch (New Zealand), who both add a slight hip-hop influence to the dub-reggae aesthetic, although Epoch also takes a detour through some tribal beats. This is impressive stuff, and undoubtedly deserves a wider audience that it’ll receive.
… and here’s the PODCAST DOWNLOAD via iTunes
