CRZKNY drops chaotically exciting album complete with sample pack

Japanese juke pioneer CRZKNY returns with ‘J-WHITE’; a mind-bending album featuring footwork, IDM, juke and much more.

Although the album itself is a tidy 14 tracks, the tracklist comprises 48 cuts and comes packaged with a multitude of samples used throughout, as well as a 46-minute recorded set.

The entire project is some of the most chaotic and exciting music to drop in 2024 so far, with each track being vastly experimental and different from the rest of the project.

Weird, eerie VHS samples throughout, huge jumps in styles and BPM, and even a mad sample of MC Hammer’s ‘U Can’t Touch This’ before quickly shifting to a soothing guitar ballad. This project has it all, and although it's often hard to wrap your head around, it still feels cohesive and thought through.

CRZKNY spoke to Mixmag Asia on the production process, saying, “I spend at least 15 minutes on a song and three hours at the longest. This has been my production method for over ten years. I use any kind of sound. I can't use MIDI, so I use the arrangement view of Ableton Live and place samples from the web, YouTube, CDs, VHS, movies, dramas, and anything else one by one.”

Read this next: Splice's new sample label spotlights the ornate sounds of South Asia

He continues, “I think the juke scene in Japan was born in 2010, and after 2016 when it flourished, it became smaller in scale and is now a very small scene. I have been one of the leading artists in the Japanese juke scene for more than ten years, and J-WHITE is a special project I made for ARAKEMO CRU and my friends in Okinawa. I thought it would be good to make fast music based on Japanese songs”.

Read this next: Sample and the City: ‘Geosonics - A Love Letter’

CRZKNY is no stranger to off-kilter releases, and over the past decade, he has released over 200 projects and more than 900 tracks.

Only one week after dropping J-WHITE on January 25, he returned with a double-single ‘GROOOOOOOVE003’, a more techno-centred release.

Purchase CRZKNY ‘J-WHITE’ here.

Henry Cooper is a Writer at Mixmag Asia. Follow him on Instagram.