Toro Y Moi: "Pitch Black" [ft. Rome Fortune]

Starting last month, Chaz Bundick (aka Toro Y Moi) has been letting loose a series of odds and ends on his SoundCloud. First there was the warped hip-hop of “room for 1zone”, followed shortly by “2Late”, a SAFE and Kool A.D.-assisted nocturnal rap sketch. The similarly downcast “That Instead of This” came next, a beat instrumental that sounds like a corroded version of something out of Bundick’s smoother-than-smooth chillwave era. Now, he’s released “Pitch Black”, a shuffling, stark addition to the set that upholds Bundick’s evolved hip-hop production chops with a feature from versatile Atlanta rapper Rome Fortune.

Whether these rap excursions are Bundick simply adding to his far-reaching catalog or a new direction following this April’s indie rock-leaning What For?, it’s a good look for the production whiz (and not one entirely without precedent). Bundick lays the groundwork for a jilted Rome’s wandering, circuitous verses with steely synths and breakbeats. “She said my soul is pitch black/ Breakin’ hearts like back to back to back,” Rome raps on the song’s chorus, “Universe’ll react/ She know that I ain’t never mad at that.” Shrugging off your mistakes rarely sounds so compelling.

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