Not to be confused with rapper KRS-ONE, Krs. (pronounced “kris”) is the founder of the record label Film Noir: Sound. Hailing from Toronto, Canada, he has remixed Jhene Aiko‘s “B’s + H’s” into this unbelievably smooth, and futuristic R&B jam renamed as “Bitches N Hoes”.
Interestingly, Krs. has two Soundcloud profiles. His main profile is designed for his main official tracks while on his second profile, he highlights more of his beats he produces for sale, side projects or unofficial remixes.
It is here where “Bitch N Hoes” resides, and what an amazing hidden gem it is.
In the beginning of the track, Krs. sets up a strong atmospheric tone akin to Miguel’s sound from last year’s “Wildheart” album. Pitched up is Jhene Aiko’s voice, as it floats on top of the reverbed guitars, and ghostly echoes.
As the song picks up, the wet claps create a lag, a sense of drag until the 1:20 mark when Krs. doubles Jhene Aiko’s voice with high and low pitch. At the same time, he puts under it a heavily distorted, shimmering percussion.
The bass line is laser precision as it pans left to right to accentuate the head nodding groove.
The best part is the unexpected dropout that occurs in the last third of the track. Jhene Aiko’s pitched up voice, fits perfectly here as it allows her cadences to really be pulsed on with the sparse synthesized voice below it and the wet percussive bassline. It feels chopped and skewed, and almost sinister here to help accompany the lyrics.
When the groove kicks back in, it is a combination of the break down and the section prior – structured, but with that atmospheric purple glow.
