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Music

Cross-Breeding Grunge and Trap, Mackned's "Hurt Cobain II" Drags Seattle's Legacy Feels-First into 2015

The bridge between Kurt Cobain and Young Thug, Seattle-bred MC Mackned is gunning for the throne.
Emma Garland
London, GB

In our collective memory, Seattle and grunge go together like Miley Cyrus and a wardrobe scandal. Because, you know, Nirvana and everything, grunge is historically considered "the Seattle sound", but lately it feels as though Thraxxhouse - a Seattle and Los Angeles-based music and design collective that rolls somewhere around 40 members deep - are gunning for the throne.

It was only two months ago that Seattle-bred MC and producer Mackned, one of the founding fathers of Thraxxhouse, dropped Female. It was his second full-length of 2015 and one of the most authoritative fusions of trap and cloud rap since A$AP Rocky made his debut with Live.Love.A$AP, but he's already back with a new EP, which we're premiering in full below.

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Following on from July's entirely freestyled Hurt Cobain EP, Hurt Cobain II takes another step forward in the process of cross-breeding trap and grunge. Blending auto-tuned vocals, choice acoustic guitar samples, and bars that drape over the beats like a worn flannel shirt, Hurt Cobain II dances on the boundries of two worlds in a way that gives a respectful nod to Seattle's history whilst also brushing off the dust, shaking shit up, and dragging it feels-first into 2015 (the opening track "Live Without Me" literally kicks off with a sample of Nirvana's "Heart Shaped Box").

If fellow Thraxxhouse affiliate Wicca Phase Springs Eternal is like the lovechild of Cheef Keef and Morrissey, then Mackned is the bridge between Kurt Cobain and Young Thug.

Listen below:

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