Daily Jam - Fitta Happier

I guess after a decade of making weirdo prog rock with BEAK>, or Judge Dredd inspired synth scores to imaginary films, or what was essentially a krautrock record with the ever dormant Portishead, band member and producer Geoff Barrow wanted to return to his sampling, scratching, trip-hop roots, and created the sprawling and epic hip-hop album Quakers. The 2012 solo self-titled effort consists of numerous appearances and collaborations, a whole slew of different rappers slinging their verses among the samples and breaks stretched out over 40 tracks. It’s quite an amazing listen, and my first taste had me instantly hooked like a millennial high schooler on his parents’ opioids.

“Fitta Happier” begins with what sounds like a distorted, warbled and decaying air raid siren before the University of Arizona marching band bellow in unison, “Fitter…Happier…More Productive,” a mantra of sorts lifted from Radiohead’s Ok Computer. The song then kicks into gear with a subdued yet grooving beat and samples of that same marching band performing sections of Radiohead’s “Optimistic” and a booming riff off “The National Anthem” from Kid A. Detroit’s Guilty Simpson handles the first verse, a kind of boasting and antagonizing screed that’s been a rapping staple since the genre’s origins. California rapper M.E.D. then comes in for verse number two with a more chilled and relaxed vibe to his couplets, though his section is just a self-aggrandizing. And then in a flash, the whole thing’s over and you’re left wanting more.

As it should be.

I’ve always been a sucker for different and interesting samples and production in the hip-hop I listen to, and Barrow’s Quakers project answered the call with zest and gusto. The whole thing is worth checking out, but let the record’s single “Fitta Happier” snag you first. And hopefully we’ll get a follow-up someday (we did), maybe after a fourth Portishead record.

Get on that shit Barrow.