The Cool is inspired by Miles Davis, Gil Evans and co.’s The Birth of the Cool; a collaborative project of a similar nature that gave rise to the “cool jazz” movement of the 1950s and 60s. Just as Davis and co.’s sound brought a seemingly watered-down “bop” era back to its jazz roots, The Cool aims to bring jazz hip-hop back to its boom-bap roots and provide a soundscape enjoyable for listeners across the world. Continuing in tradition, Marcus D & Absolutzero proudly present to you, the second volume of The Cool.

On this volume we hope to introduce more listeners to the featured artists. Below, we’ve done a small write-up on most of the producers featured on the project below.

BeanOne – a Seattle-native producer unofficially known as 1/3 of the Seattle holy trinity (the other 2/3 being Vitamin D & Jake One). The genius behind early 2000s local classic “Space Music” by Dyme Def and production for internationally known hip hop staples like X-Clan, I Self Divine, Black Sheep, One Be Lo, Living Legends, Supernatural, and a number of others. BeanOne contributes four tracks to TCV2 exhibiting his decades of experience in the “beat scene” and in-depth knowledge of textures and groove.

14? – An elusive Chinese producer responsible for tracks like “When the Luster Fades ft. Substantial” & “Dreamland ft. Cise Starr & Fayya”. Discovered by Japanese hip hop label, Elevation head: Kensuke Yamamoto in 2011.

WIZDUMB – Another prolific Seattle producer, who is known for his signature use of vintage samplers and authentic hardware from the golden age of hip hop. Equipped with the SP-1200, multiple MPCs, the original SP-404, and any other number of classic samplers and hardware you can think of, WIZDUMB brings you back to a simpler time: a time when all you needed was a dope sample and a drumbreak to make a classic rap track.

tkdwn. – A Canadian producer from the new school who broke his way into the lo-fi beat scene with smooth samples, dope basslines, dirty drums, and signature anime aesthetic.
Tracks we think you should check out: “watch the hands.”, and of course “Beach Daze”

sonsofu – A producer who you may be familiar with from nitsua’s visioneternal collective. His debut album “rotary dream” was released by visioneternal, and distributed in Japan by Rockwell Product Shop (run by Nujabes’ former manager). sonsofu’s tracks are dreamy, experimental, and ambient.

Lex (de Kalhex) РAn extremely talented French producer based in Paris who currently has 4 full-length albums under his belt, all released under his label Akrom̩galie Records. Lex and his brother, DJ Parental, take great care in the presentation and crafting of the projects released from their label; musically and presentation-wise. Lex is an accomplished visual artist as well.