Rise, shine, and rub the sleep out of your eyes because the multi-lateral conductor for this Sunday's musical overtures demands a fresh spring in each step today. Standing tall in his home of Lyon, France, KarmawiN has been steadily releasing an ever-growing catalog of top-notch lo-fi beats and other hip-hop treats. Sometimes vibrant, sometimes melancholy, and always with an attitude, his tracks tackle a multitude of sub-genres, tempos, moods, and instrumentation.

"Like a Ninja" creeps its way from start to finish following a harmonic minor scale that brings out the Samurai Champloo in all of us. Gated reverb on the snares keeps the upper registers of the frequency spectrum bright, with just enough space in between to let the hi-hats and sparing brass samples breath and flourish. Choice vinyl cuts surrounding samples referring to a Ninja's duties certainly help to keep the mental picture in focus. "Yōkai" follows the far eastern motif, utilizing samples distributed by fellow beatsmith Soul Maker. "Diggaz" fleshes out a familiar jazzy flair, with harmonious piano samples cutting and crossing one another underneath the canopy of brass flutterings and staple hip-hop vocal cuts.

E1K, a recently formed beat-tape distribution label based out of Germany, put out KarmawiN's first official tape release, Noir, back in January. The beat-tape features 11 masterly crafted tracks that bring out a plethora of hues and tones that are so vital to lo-fi specifically, and hip-hop in general. Alongside the digital release, a physical tape is available for purchase by those who prefer to have a hands-on medium with which to collect their favorite music. If all of this tickles your fancy, then sit tight for some new music assuredly on the horizon from this young upstart.

FOLLOW KarmawiN: Souncloud

Check out "Noir" here: Bandcamp