Page 14 - Zone Magazine Issue 013

The Golden Year of HeRobust
Hayden Kramer, known as HeRobust, is one of the hottest producers in bass music. His recent ‘I’m Aloud’ EP gave us the trap anthems ‘Skurt Reynolds’, ‘Dirty Work’ and ‘Bottle Swervice’. After the widespread success of his recent releases along with some major collaborations and remixes, 2016 has turned out to be his most successful year yet. Some of his tracks have gained support from artists such as Diplo, Skrillex, Bassnectar, Flosstradamus and a few others. He has toured the United States this past year performing at events such as EDC New York, Hard Summer, Imagine Music Festival and many others.
Coming from Atlanta, Georgia, Herobust’s music has deep roots with the distinguished Atlanta hip-hop scene. When he first started producing he was creating the dirty south style hip hop beats his hometown is known for. Hayden gives credit to artists like Outkast, Skrillex, Kill the Noise and Flosstradamus for being key influences to his style, and you can clearly hear those influences in his music. Primarily focused around creating hip-hop style beats, he started playing local shows and clubs, working his way up through Atlanta’s local music scene.
This was at a time where some very heavy and grimy bass music was blowing up, and many prominent dubstep and bass music producers emerged by pushing the genre's boundaries. While HeRobust continued to open for DJ’s playing heavy bass and dubstep tracks, he noticed the effect it had on his music. He’s admitted to his music almost sounding like elevator music when played before some of these heavier tracks, and that had a huge influence on the music he produced.
It was in 2011 when Hayden started recording by the name HeRobust, as he released his debut album. As his music began to draw a lot of interest, he continued to produce and evolve his sound with hip-hop influenced style earning him quick recognition by many artists. He has noted that a major turning point for his career was when he started changing the way his music was arranged. Early on, he realized that even if a DJ loved your track, that didn’t mean the track would fit well with the DJ’s set and get played. He began to arrange his tracks in a way that allowed them to mix better, get played more often and increase the number of people that hear them.
Over the next few years, he would
release his EP’s ‘Morning After’ and ‘Late Night’ along with a few singles. In 2015, he collaborated with Snails for their single ‘Pump This’ that quickly became one of their hottest tracks. It also inspired an EP featuring remixes by Getter, Apashe, Ghastly and Drezo. The success of this track helped elevate HeRobust’s career, as he became a household name in bass music and an important part of the trap dance movement.
As he toured and collaborated with many prominent dubstep and bass artists, his music has progressively gotten heavier and heavier. However, even at a time where everyone is trying to push the limits of their music by giving everything a grimy and nasty twist, HeRobust continued to show his hip-hop influences in his music. The rhythm in some of his trap and bass tracks gave him a name in dance music.
His I’m Aloud EP debuted at #22 on the Billboard Electronic charts, and was supported by NGHTMRE, Brillz, Party Thieves, Bro Safari and Zeds Dead to name a few. The combination of that dirty south hip-hop mixed with the high energy and filthy basslines created a unique sound that made HeRobust stand out from most other producers. It was an 8 track EP featuring three trap anthems ‘Skurt Reynolds’, ‘Dirty Work’ and ‘Bottle Swervice’. Skurt Reynolds is as good of record as the awesome title. It may be the most popular of the eight. Featuring an extremely catchy hip-hop vocal sample over a raw bassline, and a drop that leaves you shaking.
Dirty Work is another trap hit that cuts deep using a unique sound that sticks with you for a long time. Booty Be Like is meant for the dance floor, heavy bass music with hip-hop vocal samples at 100bpm for the ultimate twerking track. The rest of the EP maintains that high energy in songs like ‘Barricadence’, ‘Smother Shit’ and ‘Pipette Up’. The last track is ‘Weigh Home’, which is the first- time Hayden recorded his own voice on a record. The excellent sound design of this track shows off his talent and versatility.
It brings a much lighter vibe using an up toned melody and his own soothing vocal over softer leads. This was a perfect way to top off the EP. Many people considered the EP a bass music masterpiece. Later in 2016, the I’m Aloud (Remixes) EP dropped again with Mad Decent. It featured remixes by Barely Alive, Spag Heddy, Wuki and Dabow. The artists created some amazing takes on HeRobusts iconic tracks, while remaining true to the iconic originals.
You can hear how his music has gradually become more bass heavy, as opposed to the hip-hop beats he came up on. He has even said that he won’t listen to SoundCloud or other music sometimes because he knows it can influence him in ways he doesn’t want. It’s crucial to have that awareness as an artist, as everything created is somehow influenced by
another. That awareness has played a critical part in HeRobust’s ability to blur the lines between bass, trap, and hip-hop. That unique balance mixed with his masterful sound design is what has helped him not only find a place, but maintain one as an important figure in this chaotic and constantly changing electronic music industry.
Consistently putting out good tracks in a genre that is quickly evolving and becoming more and more saturated every day is what most producers struggle with. Not only has HeRobust proven to stay relevant over the years, but he has become a frontrunner that has recently helped guide the direction of trap and bass music.
With nominations from, YourEDM placing him in their picks for one of the “Top 5 Best Trap Artists 2016,” and Insomniac naming him “one of the hottest voices in the trap dance movement.” With all this success, HeRobust has toured internationally playing showcases for Mad Decent and Buygore during Miami Music Week 2016. He is now featured on Billboard, MTV, Rolling Stone, BPM Sirius XM along with a few other radio and media outlets.
Staying true to his early influences, HeRobust has told fans to expect him to go back to his roots with his future music. Instead of producing heavier bass music with those hip-hop influences, he has discussed producing full hip-hop tracks with that heavy southern influence, yet we still expect him to provide heavy bass. He hopes to be working with many major rappers in the future, as he has begun to remix some successful hip-hop tracks.
His recent release, D.R.A.M. - Broccoli ft. Lil Yachty (Busted by HeRobust) shows the direction he is trying to take his sound. He is expected to be releasing another EP with Mad Decent in 2017.
Many expect him to take even more influence from southern hip-hop with less from the bass music, of course while still bringing the same high energy and unique sounds he is known for to his new tracks. Many fans are excited to see what he comes up with, as 2016 will be a very hard year to top for the Atlanta born producer. His hard work has given him a lot to live up to, but many feel that HeRobust will be around bringing heavy bass, bone chilling drops and masterful sound design for years to come. As one of the rising stars in the industry and is expected to stay on top if he can keep evolving and pushing the limits of every genre he touches.
Connect: http://herobust.com/ Words By Austin Stoker
Pics By Roger Chen, Michael Kaneff & Pear lescent Media
14 ZONE-MAGAZINE.IE
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