So Dope adopts the sound of the Middle East in catalog-diversifying single, ‘Concrete’ [Stream]

by: Rachel Narozniak Mar 13, 2020

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Threaded with Middle Eastern influence, which enters “Concrete” through So Dope’s flavorful implementation of a culturally inspired sample, the cut evidences the producer’s deft capacity for sonic experimentation. This capability, however, is not newly introduced “Concrete” but is rather a distinguishing stylistic of So Dope’s craft and catalog, which the New York native has developed across a slew of hip-hop and heavy bass hybrids to date.

I’ve always admired Middle Eastern influence when it comes to music and knew that one day I would create something stemming back to the musical style with a non-traditional twist.

I heard a Bollywood track that inspired me and started digging for different Middle Eastern-inspired samples. I wanted to combine an
epic sounding breakdown with a hard-hitting but danceable drop and that’s when ‘Concrete’ was born.

-SD

The kinetic new addition to So Dope’s stock of speaker ammunition does not shy from the trap technics that have beat as the sonic heart of a So Dope production, nor from the centerpiece sample that constitutes So Dope’s first foray into Middle Eastern inspired sound. So Dope steps outside of his wheelhouse, but does not falter.

The mounting heat of the sample simmers atop tumbling synths, as sirens sound atop the robust bass lines that So Dope lays in his signature engagement of the low end. The interplay of classic bass with the culturally fluid sample that So Dope has chosen diversifies modern trap sound with the forward thinking edge that has come to be characteristic of a So Dope release.