Keys N Krates joins big leagues of EDM
Toronto’s rave-ready hip-hop trio ascends with its new Midnite Mass EP
What’s the deal? Keys N Krates aren’t exactly the newest of New Favourite Things, since they’ve been rocking dance floors with their rave-ready live hiphop jams since 2008.
The Toronto trio — drummer Adam Tune, keyboardist David Matisse and turntablist Greg (Jr. Flo) Dawson — appears to have definitively ascended to the electronic-music big leagues with the release of its excellent new Midnite Mass EP, which debuted at No. 1 on the Canadian iTunes dance chart and No. 2 in the U.S. in January, and has since helped shift tickets by the thousands on a mostly sold-out tour of the States.
Keys N Krates are very Toronto, too, mingling the woozy, fractured headspaces so beloved lately by local hiphop producers (and popularized internationally by Drake) with skittery, late-’90s big-room jungle breaks and flashes of chopped-’n’-screwed R&B melody. It’s a fusion that really couldn’t have come from anywhere but this city. Sum up what you do in a few simple sentences “We make bassy rap/electronic-infused beats and songs that will hopefully make you feel some type of way. We reference everything from drum-’n’-bass and house to whatever we want, but our style is rooted in hip hop.
“We create our own vibe by playing our tunes and our own flips of other people’s tunes all 100-per-cent live, really loud, before your eyes. It’s a dance party and an experience all in one.” What’s a song I need to hear right now? “Save Me.” A drum-’n’-bass-shocked underground smash featuring U.K. singer Katy B, this banger ingeniously manages to reference both Derrick May and Carly Rae Jepsen. Where can I see them play? Danforth Music Hall on March 25.