For the next Colectivo Digs feature, we would like to call your attention to Memphis’ Gavin Mays aka Cities Aviv.  Shout outs to Memphis for this fantastic submission into the eclectic hip-hop landscape. The Memphis rapper draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, ranging from soul to minimal wave.  90’s hip-hop is no stranger in his creative mood board. Although surrounded by three six [mafia] albums, Memphis rap, and other underground rap influences, Mays, spent his time listening to metal, alternative rock and punk, and even became part of a hardcore band–Copwatch.  After Copwatch disbanded, Mays, decided to give writing rhymes his full attention. As per his profile on tumblr and facebook, his mission statement is to make pop music for the unpopular.

The 22-year-old idiosyncratic Memphis rapper’s main body of work can be heard in the debut CD, Digital lows. In digital lows, cities hits us with an uncommon flow, precise wit, and amusement-laced ferocity from an outsider/insider perspective onto hazy tracks and the occasional jaggy boom-bap beat. Cities aviv brings some serious personality and originality, evident in his references to 90’s cult bands, 90’s hip-hop, rhythms and witty rhymes.  Digital lows won’t be anything you can pigeonhole either; it is intended to be all over the place, just like the scatterbrained rapper.

So now that you know what’s up, keep track of Cities Aviv via his twitter: @citiesaviv and be on the lookout for his next batch of old school inspired, twisted, and future searching beats & rhymes.

Photograph by Stefano Pesarelli, winner of national geographic 2011 photo

you’ve probably already seen about a million top lists of 2011, but that won’t deter us from sharing our most memorable records of the year. we asked our contributors to provide their favorite lists and when all the results came together these were the albums that provided the year’s most outstanding listens.

listen to our favorite albums of 2011 on spotify

+ drake - take care [cash money] another fantastic effort by drizzy proving that you can combine superb production values with enough pop appeal to get any party going. outstanding track: HYFR (hell ya f***ing right)

+ the weeknd - house of balloons [self released] no other artist had a better year, the weeknd went from nowhere to everywhere by releasing 3 outstanding albums and giving them away for free! swag. outstanding track: the morning

+ gil scott-heron / jamie xx - we’re new here [young turks] a fantastic recontextualisation of the late great’s final album and a clear example of the production wizardry of the british wunderkind. outstanding track: the crutch

+ sbtrkt - sbtrkt [young turks] bass musics meets pop music and what a wonderful thing it is; the best thing about this record is you can either dance to it or simply sing along. outstanding track: something goes right

+ the horrors - skying [xl recordings] future sounding album that proves rockers can sport synthesizers without sounding overly cheesy. outstanding track: moving further away

+ the war on drugs - slave ambient [secretly canadian] a proper rock album full of atmospheric soundscapes, slave ambient is awfully reminiscent of some of the best krautrock records ever released. outstanding track: your love is calling my name

+ thundercat - the golden age of tomorrow [brainfeeder] surprising debut album from soul bassist extraordinaire with co-production by the one and only flying lotus. outstanding track: it really doesn’t matter to you

+ james blake - james blake [atlas recordings] dubstep’s prodigious child gifts us a very personal album full of introspective moments, transcending genres and flirting with timelessness. outstanding track: to care (like you)

+ hype williams - one nation [hippos in tanks] equally mysterious as its creators, this album is one hell of a trip! always on the verge of falling apart, the album is abound with far-out synth explorations providing great and often weird results. outstanding track: break4love

+ cities aviv - digital lows [self released] another proof that you don’t have to be signed to a label to stand out. bringing together the most disparate of influences, this memphis-based rapper oozes originality and flair. outstanding track: a beautiful hell

+ africa hitech – 93 million miles [warp] our favorite bass music related album of the year by far. combining a host of influences, this record will lift all the right spirits and set the feet in motion. outstanding track: our luv

+ m83 - hurry up, we’re dreaming [m83] a more than worthy return of epic proportions, making it seem like they never really went away. perhaps one of the year’s most emotionally charged records. outstanding track: midnight city

2011 was a good year for colectivo futuro, we grew in followers and also in enthusiasm for what we are trying to achieve with this community of likeminded characters. we compiled some great futurecasts and we featured some of our favorite artists via our colectivo futurist section.  but most importantly we achieved our first physical collaboration with mexican artist natural values and barcelona based bcomesome1 titled future print series 01.

to end the year on a high note, a couple of weeks back we were invited as guests on wvum’s dead air show. hosted by our homegirl Uchi Isabella, the show focuses on providing forward thinking electronic musics every friday night between 11 pm and 01 am. on friday, december 30th we arrived to the station, which is located at the beautiful university of miami campus, music and gear in tow, and were greeted by Uchi, who immediately made us feel at home in the studio, which was outfitted wall-to-wall with cds and records.

music wise, we wanted to take a “best of the year” approach to the show and during the first hour we did just that, showcasing an eclectic selection of tracks that inspired us during 2011, including cuts by Jamie XX, Four Tet, and Sbtrkt. we also talked about the state of colectivo futuro and our plans moving forward. for the second and third hours we kicked the bass musics up a notch mixing tracks by Jon Convex, Zomby, Jacques Greene, and Joy Orbison to name a few. needless to say we had an absolute blast!

listen to the 3 hour show with harold (@harold_f), gabe (@gabrielberthin), miguel (@miguelcolectivo), mike (@mlason), and of course our favorite host uchi (@uchpuch) with a cameo appearance by the ramon (@theramon) below

colectivo futuro x dead air – wvum 90.5 fm 30.11.2011 by colectivofuturo

UK bass label hyperdub has quickly become one of the most revered labels in the planet via their consistent take on future bass musics from the likes of burial, kode9 & the spaceape, zomby, king midas sound, and many more. what initially began as a 100% music focus, with simple vinyl artwork featuring the label’s logo and record info, has shifted to a more complete package with the futuristic graphics provided by london based studio optigram.

somewhat mysterious and elusive, optigram is a sister company of electrofunk label citinite, and has done artwork for several labels and brands including Clients include Hyperdub, Warp, Planet Mu, Hum + Buzz, Sähkö, Public Information, The Wire, XLR8R, MIT Press and the Red Bull Music Academy.

often recurring to geometric and repetitive patterns, their artworks are a perfect companion for hyperdub’s often mold-braking releases that hover between future garage, grime, house, and techno. however, they are equally effective when stepping out of their comfort zone as is the case on the beautiful and much more organic kode9 + the spaceape album cover (picture above), which is reminiscent of early japanese print art.

follow the label on twitter @hyperdub and keep track of optigram’s work via their website

also check out this spotify playlist featuring some of our favorite music from hyperdub

our very first print collaboration is finally here in the form of these awfully good looking, screen-printed, 100% fine jersey cotton t-shirts designed by our good friend ricardo vázquez ortega aka natural values. now available in limited quantities, the collaboration is our first endeavor into the physical world, something which we hope will continue with future projects.

to read more about the concept behind the project follow this link

to purchase a colectivo futuro + natural values t-shirt click here