An amusingly cryptic narrative of Dadaist assemblage, Turkey’s hip-hop supergroup, 90BPM, presents the video clip for their second single from their premiere album, Kötülük Bizim Işimiz, a collection of alternative hip-hop that explores everything from Turkish funk to Prince Paul-styled turntablism.
A bizarre and surreal homage to their home city, “İstanbul” cuts a blaring slice of heavy cloud rap. Riding the skeletal remains of doumbek drums and Eastern guitars, the number exercises a flip-switch means of exchange, each rapper turning in a breathless and impassioned flow of verse. It’s strange, catchy and no doubt prescient of what is to come from Turkey’s growing underground hip-hop scene.