Death of Hi Fi

Death of Hi Fi

Death of Hi Fi is an electronic hip hop group from Oxford, United Kingdom, active since 2010. It is formed by Andy Hill, who starts the project in early spring 2010 after his previous project, The Mysteriou2, goes on temporary hiatus.

Background

Hill begins as an MC and also uses the aliases DJ AH:Kane and DJ Nikbeat. He first makes beats for rhyming over using an old tape-to-tape machine, then moves on to a Tascam four-track, an Amiga computer with a cheap sampler add-on, and later an Akai MPC 3000. He eventually shifts his focus from vocals to writing and production. A copy of Cubase, lent by a friend, leads him into fully digital sequencing, and he describes the work as a steady progression rather than a sudden change.

Style and approach

The project works between hip hop, dub, electronica, glitch, downtempo and psychedelic elements, with industrial textures, arpeggios, melodies and samples also part of the sound. The music is described as moving between chilled hip hop and driving industrial material, while also using darker and lighter contrasts. Hill’s work is presented as a DJ and producer project that collaborates freely and aims to cross genre boundaries rather than stay within one fixed style.

Identity

Death of Hi Fi develops out of Hill’s earlier hip hop practice and his interest in the growing overlap between hip hop, dub, electronica and glitch. The project’s name is used alongside Hill’s own name and aliases, linking it closely to his production-led work and to a long process of moving from MC performance into beatmaking and sequencing.