deca - breadcrumbs

Ben Ashbridge

For someone who isn’t really a hip hop connoisseur, I thought that I’d be struggling to find something to write about this week. Actually though, even before I started considering this piece, one track had been bouncing around my house on repeat, and definitely has been the sound of my week ever since. Having first heard it on Sunday evening, ‘Breadcrumbs’ by New York artist Deca has been the soundtrack to my week, and for those of you not too interested in hip hop, this is an excellent place to start. 

Underpinned by a smooth brass section and some serene but sparse bass, Deca’s effortless flow lulls the listener into a head-nodding, foot-tapping trance. Interspersed and bookended by sampled vocals from radio and TV which buzz with static, the song is positively dream-like, and incredibly well put together. But the calm reverie the music creates masks a powerful lyrical message, as Deca tackles societal ills and the growing irrelevance of the individual in modern culture. The witty lyrics portray society’s slide towards commercialism and egotism, with lines such as ‘Big things, big screens with Big Brother’s ugly mug, selling us a pyramid scheme like a f*cking drug’ particularly gripping. It’s hard to find, with my untrained eye, a real weakness with this tune, but the brass section is a highlight and really makes the track.

I’d be remiss as well if I didn’t mention the video for the track, which features a strange space adventure in stop-motion animation, culminating in two superior beings moving pieces around a board, so it’s definitely worth a watch. Deca’s other tracks are also a good listen, particularly his 2013 LP The Ocean, and I’d recommend ‘Gabriel Ratchet’ off that album, which maintains a similar style to ‘Breadcrumbs’. But ‘Breadcrumbs’ is the one track you need to listen to, and it’s been the sound of my week.