Melbourne Producer YAAK has announced the launch of his new moniker - “OX4ORD” - with the release of ‘PARAMETERS” as he makes his move into the new age of producers who refuse to hide in the shadows and instead be a front-facing act.
Coming as a massive turning point for YAAK, he is ready to become a wordsmith over hip-hop/electronic beats. The record serves as a commentary on broader society and concerning trends including the psychological toll of social media, shifting personalities, and mass consumerism. Proving YAAK’s ability to produce incredible beats that showcase the artist’s strength, while also showing the lyrical powers of OX4ORD, this new release will set YAAK out from the crowd of producers within Melbourne.
‘PARAMETERS’ is an effortlessly seamless hybrid of genres, carving a space between hip-hop, garage and electronic sonics. Anchored with clever use of lyricism and grounded by the kind of bass that echoes through your chest, fans of Kaytranada, GoldLink, Duckwrth, and Mac Miller are bound to find something they love within this record. On the record, YAAK says,
“I think ‘PARAMETERS’ is a show of my skill and maturity as a producer. It’s this unique blend of garage, hip-hop, and electronic that is unmistakably YAAK, but lends itself in all the right ways for an artist to come in and do their thing. The OX4ORD project exists to do what YAAK can’t, giving a voice to a lane of artistry that was boxed in by producer labels.”
The accompanying music video, directed and conceptualised in-house by the Hy-Lo Creative crew with assistance from Iain Soumitri of Soumitri Studios, came together in a way that was rogue, organic, and inspired. It features stark and menacing shots of neo-brutalist locations across Melbourne CBD, pertaining to OX4ORD’s enigmatic character. Hy-Lo Director George Yacoub says,
“We’ve been working on a clever way to introduce this persona and artist moniker. It seemed right to pair the music with visual counterparts that helped amplify the new world of OX4ORD. This, in turn, opened up the opportunity for Hy-Lo to showcase its versatility as a label and creative agency, by writing, producing and directing the videos you see, in-house.”
Check out the visuals above.
