PREMIERE: Boss Chan aka Familyboy’s Heavily Sedated (Chopped & Screwed by Mushroom Buttons)

By JUICE Malaysia  •  13 May 2015 in News

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Hailing from yet-to-be-gentrified Jalan Ipoh, horrorcore rapper Boss Chan aka Familyboy isn’t as well-known in the independent hip hop scene as the rest of the first batch of Rogue Squadron (RS) members – the massive collective that includes The Rebel Scum, Jin Hackman, SSK, and The Swagger Salon-founder Schizzow (Yung Shen) among others. But his 2006 release, Heavily Sedated EP, has become something of a cult classic among left-of-the-field hip hop aficionados, enough that it had influenced similarly metal and hardcore-inclined MCs from Perlis, some of whom have become part and parcel of the new RS lineup. One could even argue that it was the most interesting RS output; the EP aged well and Boss Chan had a clearly defined aesthetic and identity unique to him. Imagine Triad God sans the irony — and an actual interest in hip hop (namely the dirty south).

Now a year shy of a decade since its release, ex-RS and beat scene luminary Mushroom Buttons has given the record the purple drank treatment — a chopped and screwed edition à la DJ Smokey’s best. The result is surprisingly current — like vintage SpaceGhostPurrp with eery witch house-style pitch shifted down vocals. Steeped in Buddhist and Taoist mysticism and triad vérité, the lowered BPM also serves to amplify the gothic orientalism of Boss Chan’s lyrical mise-en-scènes. The title Heavily Sedated is given a literal meaning here, this version sounds like the drugged out aural experience of Boss Chan’s victim on the verge of being chopped up; if Hong Kong’s Category III exploitation movies had a soundtrack, it’d be this.

Also, hearing Jin Hackman threaten to amputate your leg in a pitch shifted down voice is just gold.

Boss Chan has this to say about the rerelease;

“Well, it’s been nine years since I released Heavily Sedated, and 10 years since I first worked on it. So, to commemorate this EP (yes, I work 9-to-5 now, non-music related) and in the spirit of ‘Chopping Action’ — it’s now chopped and screwed by the homie and one of the producers of the original EP; Mushroom Buttons. Hopefully it could remain for another 10 more years; Familyboy back from the dead! Shout out to the producers: MicWrecka, Mushroom Buttons, and also to King Shah for their undivided support and guidance. Special shout out to those who made Familyboy : WordsManifest, HQA, Rogue Squadron (past members), DMENT, Tom Eugene, HFX, and #TMHTR.”

Listen to it below:

TRACKLIST
MySpace Intro + Afterworld Funeral (feat. WordsManifest) (0:00)
Heavily Sedated (3:49)
Now You’re Fucked (feat. Provokalizt & Illevate) (7:13)
Meal of Insanity (10:49)
Dirge of Familyboy (14:02)
Lived (16:58)
Odd Count (19:53)
[Bonus] Shuggamayne (Lofi Mix) (23:00)
[Bonus] Untouchable (27:30)
Bunman Outro (32:02)

Listen to the original EP and more here.