by Jake Espinoza
I haven’t been this excited about a track from the Northwest since hearing SOL’s “This Shit” this summer.
This track—which I’m ashamed to say I JUST found out about—is a Tope produced remix of an acapella released on Kelli Schaefer’s album Ghost of the Beast. Kelli, of Portland, included this remix as a bonus track with a single she released earlier this year; it was born after a bit of miscommunication between Tope and Kelli’s management.
“Kelli’s manager heard (my album) Soul Music,” said Tope. “Originally they wanted me to just sample it and make a beat out of it, but we had a miscommunication and I ended up making a beat for the acapella.’”
The song they ended up with helped Tope get attention from a new demographic and positive reviews from local music critics.
“I think it’s been the most successful song I’ve done. When I first put it out last year, it got a kind of indie buzz. I was a little nervous about putting it out at first. I think it’s really different from my sound, but it’s real Portland.“
The song will also be included on an album Tope will be releasing on FreshSelects.net early 2012 titled Until the Next Time We Meet. The track will be the only Tope produced track on the album; however, we’ll be seeing a list of familiar names on the production credits: Lawzspoken, Trox, Tony Ozier, and Calvin Valentine, amongst others.
“It really was a chance to show my growth as a song writer on this album, as far as not having to focus on the production.”