Yellow Claw‘s Barong Family celebrates 6 years and 200 releases with an EP compilation appropriately titled “BF200,” which features seven brand new tracks from the brightest names on the label, such as Yellow Claw themselves, Wiwek, Crisis Era, RayRay, GHOSTER, Nonsens, Psycho Boys Club, and more. The Amsterdam-based imprint has become known for its wide range of musical influences and high-tempo BPMs, and “BF200” follows the same vein. Spanning sounds from three continents and even a reworked ’90s classic, “BF200” also has a unique and fantastical backstory. Ever the creative crew, the EP‘s accompanying artwork, and bonus audiobook see Barong Family travels across space and time to save their home planet Mother Earth. Head honchos Yellow Claw describe the impetus behind the EP below:
“It has been a wild ride since when we had put out our first release on Barong Family back in 2014. During the past 6 years, we have met many talented artists who wanted to take part in this adventure with us and joined the family. Moksi, RayRay, Wiwek, and more all saw the transition from Barong Family – a music label to Barong Family – a worldwide brand with its own merch lines, writing camps in Asia, documentaries, sold-out tours in North America, own stages at the world’s biggest festivals. 200 releases seem like a big number, and 6 years feel like a very long time, but for us, thanks to what we do and whom we are fortunate to work with, it feels like we are just starting, as our excitement never faded away.” – Yellow Claw
As for the sonic journey of “BF200,” it begins with “I Want It” from Yellow Claw and Wiwek, who deliver epic hip-hop beats to set the tone of the EP. Next up is Canadian duo Crisis Era‘s “Funky Pills” for all the old school ravers out there, while DJ Soda and RayRay‘s “Obsession” serves up a sneaky dose of hard-hitting bass. Yellow Claw themselves reworked the Tokyo Ghetto Pussy‘s 1995 hit “Kiss Your Lips” for the EP, giving the classic a modern dance facelift. GHOSTER employs Nanami‘s breathy vocals to deliver a solid mission statement in “Belong,” before Danish threesome Nonsens put the pedal to the metal with “Teaze,” speeding up proceedings with immense 4/4 energy. Finally, all systems go on Psycho Boys Club‘s “Break.” Did anyone expect Barong Family to ever take it easy?