Wikipedia

PTP (artist collective)

PTP, also known as Purple Tape Pedigree, is an American artist collective and independent record label based in New York City.[1][2][3] PTP has been called "New York’s experimental incubator",[4] and the collective has released recordings named among the best in new experimental,[5] hip hop,[6] metal,[7] avant-garde,[8] and electronic[9] music. Pitchfork noted that "PTP's mission seems to be to annihilate genre boundaries and revel in the brilliant debris",[10] and VICE has called PTP "home to some of the most boundary pushing music being made".[3]

PTP
Founded2009 (2009)
Founder
  • GENG PTP (a.k.a. King Vision Ultra)
Genreexperimental, hip hop, doom metal, electronic, noise rock
LocationNew York City
Official websiteptp.vision
SloganPurveyors of weaponized media and information.

Artist Geng (stylized GENG PTP)[11] founded the collective as a media platform in 2009, with label operations beginning in 2012.[2][12] Artists associated with PTP include Dreamcrusher,[13] YATTA,[14] Dis Fig,[10] Armand Hammer,[15] Saint Abdullah,[16] Celestial Trax,[17] Among The Rocks And Roots,[18] DeForrest Brown Jr. (also known as Speaker Music),[19] H31R (the duo of maassai and JWords),[20] madam data,[21] Amani,[6] photographer Richard R. Ross,[22] and Geng, who also performs and records as King Vision Ultra.[3]

PTP's projects include Silent Weapons, a live performance series raising money for causes including prison abolition and immigrant rights.[23]

History

edit

In 2009, New York City born and based artist GENG PTP started a wide-ranging music blog on hip hop, hardcore, and punk; his friend NOTE assisted him and handled visuals and design.[2][12] Geng named the platform Purple Tape Pedigree after Wu-Tang rapper Raekwon's 1995 hip hop classic Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (often called "the purple tape" for the colored plastic of its original cassette release);[1] the album came out the same year Geng, then in his teens, transitioned from cassette decks to turntables,[11] going on to collaborate with the Atoms Family hip hop collective in the late '90s and produce beats for Dipset in the early 2000s.[3] Friends soon joined Geng and Note in writing for the blog, creating visuals, organizing radio sets, booking performances, and eventually releasing music.[24]

The first two official Purple Tape Pedigree releases came out in 2012 and 2015;[2] after the second, Celestial Trax's Ride Or Die EP, PTP began to release recordings more frequently.[25] As the platform grew into a collective with a distinct identity not solely affiliated with hip hop or DJ culture, Geng began exclusively using the acronym PTP.[26] Later he resumed using the full name and acronym interchangeably, explaining in 2021 that he doesn't feel a need to "put the Raekwon reference to the side" given the name's personal significance and potential to draw attention to a "lineage" that might otherwise be overlooked.[24]

As PTP gained greater recognition, the collective began to prioritize using their platform to provide support for community members in need.[23] In 2018, PTP started a live performance series called Silent Weapons to raise money for organizations including Books Through Bars, The Bronx Freedom Fund, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, and Kids in Need of Defense.[27] PTP has published several photo books, the first of which was also called Silent Weapons; the volume, by photographer Richard R. Ross, documents the first year of performances in the namesake series.[22] In 2017, PTP released a benefit album for Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria,[28] and in 2020 PTP was noted for donations to racial justice initiatives, as well as for including a PDF of Alex S. Vitale’s The End Of Policing with all digital purchases.[29]

In 2024, PTP announced RESIST COLONIAL POWER BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY, a massive 95-track compilation raising funds for Gaza and Haiti.[30][31] The sprawling release eschews hierarchy, with a wide range of artists (including a²z, Algiers, Bergsonist, bookworms, Dakn x Hiro Kone, DJ Manny, E L U C I D, Fatboi Sharif x Malik Abdul-Rahmaan, gushes, HxH, June McDoom, Kevin Richard Martin & KMRU, Omar Ahmad x Myyuh, Rachika Nayar, RaFia, subt.le, Swaya, Tati au Miel, The Body, Yaeji, and many more) included in alphabetical order.[31] The release's Bandcamp page credits pro-Palestinian organization Within Our Lifetime for inspiring the title.[31]

Critical reception

edit

Records in PTP's catalog have been praised as among the best in experimental music by publications and organizations including NPR Music, The Wire, Bandcamp Daily, Pitchfork, Mixmag, CVLT Nation, and SLUG Magazine. Notable releases include Celestial Trax's Nothing is Real (2017);[9] Kepla and DeForrest Brown Jr.'s Absent Personae (2017)[32] and The Wages Of Being Black Is Death (2018);[33][34] YATTA's WAHALA, which was included in Pitchfork, Bandcamp Daily, and the Wire as among the best albums of 2019;[5][14][35] Dis Fig's PURGE (2019);[10][4] 9T Antiope's Nocebo (2019)[36] and Placebo (2020);[37] Copperhead's Gazing in the Dark (2019);[38][39] Dreamcrusher's Panopticon![13][40][41] and Another Country;[42] Amani and King Vision Ultra's An Unknown Infinite (2020);[6][8][43] and madam data's The Gospel of the Devourer (2021), a "sweeping epic of metal, noise and drone" featuring Moor Mother, Mental Jewelry, and King Vision Ultra.[21]

Geng has pushed against the description of PTP as solely a label, saying the group's principles and practices of peer support and coalition-building are more akin to those of an artist collective or community.[2][24][44] The outlet has nevertheless received significant recognition for its work releasing music: alongside many other accolades, PTP was a featured label in Resident Advisor[2] and named among the TIU Mag best labels of 2015[45] and Mixmag best labels of 2016.[46] In 2019, Tiny Mix Tapes included the "beautiful experiment" of PTP among their favorite labels of the decade: "Drawing from and experimenting with the rich collective productions, social reimaginings, and conspiratorial caretakings tagged and thumping throughout NYC — Wu Tang, Powerule Crew, Mobb Deep — caretaker Geng less curated than colluded, clearing space within the chokeholding architectures of foreclosure and incarceration for séances of breath, ugly cries, lustrous comeups, and, above all, love stories".[47]

Discography

edit

Includes cassette reissues and both official and "unofficial" releases (i.e., those released without a catalogue number).

Year Artist Title
2012 Gorgeous Children Gorgeous Children[2]
2012 GENG PTP Screwing Yourself To Live: A Chopped & Slowed Tribute To Black Sabbath[48]
2015 Celestial Trax Ride Or Die EP[49]
2015 Gang Fatale / CYPHR Body Horror I[50]
2015 MM / Imaabs Body Horror II[51]
2015 Eaves GORILLA[52][53]
2016 Joey LaBeija Shattered Dreams[54]
2016 Endgame Savage EP[55][56]
2016 DJ NJ Drone Syn Stair[57][58]
2016 Celestial Trax From The Womb EP[25]
2016 Baby Blue CELL, Issue 01: Baby Blue/Void Gate + Audio Codex[59][60]
2016 Endgame Savage Remix EP[61]
2016 Copout Forces EP[2]
2016 WWWINGS CHIMERA EP[62]
2016 Club Cacao CELL, Issue 02: Club Cacao - Vae Solis[63]
2016 N-Prolenta A Love Story 4...[64][65]
2016 ssaliva CELL, Issue 03: ssaliva - keys2diversion[66]
2016 0comeups One Deep[67]
2016 FLORA CELL, Issue 04: FLORA - City God[68]
2017 Eaves Verloren[69]
2017 ACAPELLA CELL, Issue 05: ACAPELLA - Riot In Versace[70]
2017 YATTA Spirit Said Yes![71]
2017 Bonaventure Free Lutangu[72]
2017 GENG PTP-RIDD01 (Narc)
2017 Violence Human Dust to Fertilize the Impotent Garden[73]
2017 Kepla & DeForrest Brown Jr. Absent Personae (2017)[32]
2017 Celestial Trax Nothing Is Real[9][17]
2017 VA (Compilation) Shine[74]
2018 Among The Rocks And Roots Raga[18]
2018 Saint Abdullah Stars Have Eyes[75]
2018 Nima Aghiani REMS[76]
2018 Armand Hammer Paraffin[15]
2019 Kepla & DeForrest Brown Jr. The Wages Of Being Black Is Death[19]
2019 9T Antiope Nocebo[36]
2019 Dis Fig PURGE[10]
2019 City & i.o Spirit Volume[77]
2019 YATTA Wahala[5][78]
2019 lojii lofeye
2019 Copperhead Gazing In The Dark[38]
2020 Saint Abdullah Where Do We Go, Now?[16]
2020 Dreamcrusher Panopticon![13]
2020 Dreamcrusher Another Country[42]
2020 A Space for Sound Sound Bath Mixtape Vol.1
2020 Sour Spirit / Sour Data LIVE DUSS I
2020 Sour Spirit LIVE DUSS II
2020 Sour Vision East Side Powerviolence
2020 Speaker Music & bookworms As Serious As Your Life
2020 Amani & King Vision Ultra An Unknown Infinite[44]
2020 9T Antiope Placebo[37]
2020 King Vision Ultra QUATTRO (death circus)
2020 H31r Ve·loc·i·ty[20]
2020 Speaker Music a bitter but beautiful struggle[79]
2020 AKAI SOLO Eleventh Wind
2021 Contour Weight
2021 AKAI SOLO x BSTFRND Like Hajime
2021 Model Home + Saint Abdullah Invasive Inclinations[80]
2021 Mimz & Dunn Infinite Lawn
2021 maassai With The Shifts
2021 AKAI SOLO & Navy Blue True Sky
2021 Cities Aviv THE CRASHING SOUND OF HOW IT GOES[81]
2021 madam data The Gospel of the Devourer[21]
2021 GENG PTP Slowness as the Vehicle II
2021 Centennial Gardens SPLIT
2021 Lungs/LoneSword The Birth of LoneSword
2021 GENG PTP Slowness as the Vehicle III
2021 phiik + S!LENCE THAT WAS A TEST
2021 Devin KKenny NY LOTTERY / CBD KRATOM
2022 Lord Kayso MOOR CHORES
2022 GENG PTP Slowness as the Vehicle IV
2022 grey wulf Path Of Urda
2022 Swaya EXistence
2022 GENG PTP Slowness as the Vehicle: Portishead Forever
2022 Fatboi Sharif x noface Preaching In Havana
2022 Straw + GENG PTP RETROVERTIGO
2023 YATTA Fully Lost, Fully Found
2023 King Vision Ultra Shook World (hosted by Algiers)
2023 babyfang In The Face Of
2023 seina sleep & YoursTruuly TRUUSLEEP
2023 Dreamcrusher Suite ONE
2023 E L U C I D Every Egg I Cracked Today Was Double Yolked (REDUX)
2023 kœnig 1 Above Minus Underground
2023 Centennial Gardens archive live 03.26.2023 mucho stereo
2023 Dreamcrusher Suite TWO
2023 Temp-Illusion failsafe
2024 Various Artists RESIST COLONIAL POWER BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY

References

edit
  1. ^ a b Mlynar, Phillip (4 June 2018). "How Raekwon's "Purple Tape" Spawned a Label of Soul, Hip-Hop, & Expansive Noise Rock". Bandcamp Daily. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Mickles, Kiana (20 May 2021). "Label Of The Month: PTP". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d Joyce, Colin (30 May 2018). "King Vision Ultra's Ambient Rap Beats Are Protesting a Broken System". VICE. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  4. ^ a b Kent-Smith, Jasmine (27 February 2019). ""Trying to communicate": Dis Fig is baring her soul through music". Mixmag. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  5. ^ a b c "The Best Experimental Albums of 2019". Pitchfork. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  6. ^ a b c Mlynar, Phillip (7 December 2020). "The Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2020". Bandcamp Daily. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  7. ^ "MetalMatters: The Best New Heavy Albums of July 2021". PopMatters. 3 August 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  8. ^ a b Reveron, Sean (14 December 2020). "CVLT Nation's Top 10 AVANT GARDE Albums Of 2020". CVLT Nation. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  9. ^ a b c Orlov, Piotr (22 December 2017). "Our Favorite Dance And Electronic Albums Of 2017". NPR. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  10. ^ a b c d Mlynar, Phillip (14 March 2019). "Dis Fig: PURGE". Pitchfork. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  11. ^ a b "AAC Sound Series Mix #25: GENG PTP". The Abrons Arts Center. September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  12. ^ a b "CT Q&A #004-Geng of PTP". Classical Trax. 31 August 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  13. ^ a b c Bowe, Miles (11 December 2020). "The Acid Test's Best Albums of 2020". Bandcamp. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  14. ^ a b "The Best Albums of 2019: #40 – 21". Bandcamp Daily. 12 December 2019. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  15. ^ a b Diamond, Samuel (28 August 2018). "PTP releasing Armand Hammer's Paraffin on cassette, hosting immigrants rights, racial justice benefit TONIGHT". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  16. ^ a b "Listen: Saint Abdullah's Where Do We Go, Now?". The Wire. February 2020. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  17. ^ a b Pearl, Max (8 November 2017). "Celestial Trax - Nothing Is Real". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  18. ^ a b Skolnik, Jes (2 March 2018). "This Week's Essential Releases: Americana, Jazz, Noise, and More". Bandcamp Daily. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  19. ^ a b Dorris, Jesse (15 August 2020). "How DeForrest Brown, Jr., Centers the Black Body in Techno Music". The New Yorker. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  20. ^ a b Mlynar, Phillip (5 January 2021). "Five Essential JWords and Maassai Releases on Bandcamp". Bandcamp Daily. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  21. ^ a b c "madam data - Gospel Of The Devourer". Resident Advisor. 13 September 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  22. ^ a b Poscic, Antonio (8 September 2019). "Silent Weapons: The Spectral Photography Of Richard R Ross". The Quietus. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  23. ^ a b Ramirez, Carlos (13 August 2018). "King Vision Ultra: Meet the Genre-Bending Producer Raised on Rap, Hardcore + Doom". No Echo. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  24. ^ a b c "SP* Episode 17: BEFORE THE INTERNET – with Geng PTP [podcast]". A Closer Listen. 19 February 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  25. ^ a b "Celestial Trax - From The Womb (Purple Tape Pedigree)". hyponik. 25 April 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  26. ^ Stannard, Joseph (February 2018). "Bites: Heavy Future". The Wire. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  27. ^ Diamond, Samuel (18 April 2019). "PTP releasing Silent Weapons photo documentary book tomorrow". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  28. ^ "PTP releases benefit album for Puerto Rico, King Vision Ultra shares exclusive non-album track". The Wire. 12 April 2017. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  29. ^ Gee, Andre (5 March 2021). "How Bandcamp Fridays Have Helped Artists Earn Over $44 Million During the Pandemic". Bandcamp Daily. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  30. ^ "PTP announces 93-track compilation in solidarity with Palestine and Haiti". Resident Advisor. 5 February 2024. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  31. ^ a b c "RESIST COLONIAL POWER BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY". Bandcamp. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  32. ^ a b "Listen to Absent Personae by Kepla & DeForrest Brown Jr". The Wire. September 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  33. ^ "Ed Zed's Albums Of The Year - 2018". Rough Trade. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  34. ^ Diamond, Samuel (5 October 2018). "Kepla & DeForrest Brown Jr. reunite for The Wages Of Being Black Is Death on PTP, premiere "Black Icarus, Or Uncle Tom"". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  35. ^ "Releases of the Year". Wire. January 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  36. ^ a b "The Best Albums of 2019: #80 – 61". Bandcamp Daily. 10 December 2019. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  37. ^ a b Lockie, Audrey (3 December 2020). "Top 5 Experimental Albums for Shedding Your Human Skin: 9T Antiope – Placebo". SLUG Magazine. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  38. ^ a b Duvivier, Reggie (6 August 2019). "PREMIERE: FEEL THE NOISE OF COPPERHEAD'S 'SUGAR DADDY ON FIRE'". AFROPUNK. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  39. ^ Stasis, Spyros (30 September 2019). "MetalMatters: September 2019 – Back to the Grind". PopMatters. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  40. ^ Wilikofsky, David (28 December 2020). "Post-Trash's Best of 2020 Staff Picks". Post-Trash. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  41. ^ "The Best Albums of the Year 2020". Mixmag. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  42. ^ a b "2020 IN REVIEW: THE ALBUMS". Afropunk. 24 December 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  43. ^ Bath, Tristan (7 September 2020). "Spool's Out: Cassette Reviews For September". The Quietus.
  44. ^ a b Fleming, Sam. "AN INTERVIEW WITH AMANI AND KING VISION ULTRA". Quarantine Content. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  45. ^ Pizá, Frankie (11 December 2015). "2015: BEST LABELS". TIU Mag. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  46. ^ "The Top 20 Record Labels Of 2016". MixMag. 14 December 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  47. ^ Bieser, Benjamin Eckman (25 November 2019). "2010s: Favorite 30 Labels of the Decade". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  48. ^ "PTP Music". Bandcamp. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  49. ^ "Celestial Trax - Ride or Die". Tiny Mix Tapes. 17 February 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  50. ^ Gardner, Constant (7 October 2015). "Premiere: Gang Fatale - "Wanting Some, Gettting Some"". Complex. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  51. ^ Iadarola, Alexander (9 November 2015). "MM (FKA Miss Modular) Shares Stomping New Dancehall-Techno Hybrid on Purple Tape Pedigree". VICE. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  52. ^ Kelly, Chris (15 December 2015). "Eaves digests the internet on Purple Tape Pedigree debut GORILLA". Fact Magazine.
  53. ^ "Listen: Eaves – Movement 3". Dummy Mag. 16 December 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  54. ^ Cliff, Aimee (18 August 2015). "Joey LaBeija Bares His Soul On His Debut Album Shattered Dreams". THE FADER. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  55. ^ Iadarola, Alexander (16 February 2016). "Endgame Shares Combusting Reggaeton-Inspired Drop on Purple Tape Pedigree". VICE. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  56. ^ Scavo, Nick James (24 February 2016). "Endgame - Savage EP". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  57. ^ Stabler, Brad (11 March 2016). "DJ NJ Drone Talks Inclusive Spaces And Redefining The Notion Of "Club"". Paper Magazine. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  58. ^ Bowe, Miles (7 March 2016). "DJ NJ Drone's frantic Syn Stair album explores club music's outer zones". Fact Magazine. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  59. ^ Lobenfeld, Claire (8 June 2016). "Purple Tape Pedigree announces monthly audio magazine CELL". Fact Magazine. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  60. ^ Pearl, Max (8 June 2016). "Purple Tape Pedigree announces monthly audio zine, CELL". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  61. ^ Iadarola, Alexander (16 February 2016). "Endgame Shares Combusting Reggaeton-Inspired Drop on Purple Tape Pedigree". VICE. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  62. ^ "Listen: WWWINGS feat. Geng & Bobby Johnson – ZMEY". Dummy Mag. 7 May 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  63. ^ "Club Cacao - Vae Solis". Tiny Mix Tapes. 1 August 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  64. ^ "2016: Favorite 50 Music Releases". Tiny Mix Tapes. 14 December 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  65. ^ Iadarola, Alexander (9 August 2016). "N-Prolenta Explores Futility and Empowerment on New Track, "Query As Prayer"". VICE. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  66. ^ "ssaliva - keys2diversion". Tiny Mix Tapes. 7 September 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  67. ^ Henderson, Nick. "0comeups: One Deep". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  68. ^ Iadarola, Alexander (24 October 2016). "Flora Yin-Wong Fuses Chinese Folk Religion with Club Music on New Mixtape". VICE. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  69. ^ Ryce, Andrew (6 November 2016). "The Brooklyn producer will drop his next record in December". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  70. ^ Iadarola, Alexander (12 December 2016). "ACAPELLA Combines Recordings of the 2014 Ferguson Riots with Pop Vocals on New Mix". VICE. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  71. ^ Iadarola, Alexander (29 March 2017). "YATTA Explores the Spiritual Dimensions of Mourning on Her Elegiac New Track". VICE. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  72. ^ Kay, Jean (23 February 2017). "Berlin-based producer Bonaventure on trauma, white supremacy + music as an act of war". AQNB. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  73. ^ Bowe, Miles. "VIOLENCE announces new album Human Dust to Fertilize the Impotent Garden on PTP". Fact Magazine. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  74. ^ Cliff, Aimee (13 December 2017). "Download Shine, a compilation of experimental club tracks raising money for Puerto Rico relief". THE FADER. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  75. ^ Poscic, Antonio (11 April 2018). "On "Stars Have Eyes," Saint Abdullah Assess Political and Cultural Strife". Bandcamp Daily. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  76. ^ "Tehran's Nima Aghiani shares a constant lost state of being at the edge of waking up in PTP Recordings release REMS". AQNB. 12 June 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  77. ^ "City & i.o's 'Anxiety Object' offers moments of calm & meditation in their long-distance collaboration bridging souls & cities". AQNB. 27 June 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  78. ^ "Finding our voices: An interview with Yatta". The Wire. July 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  79. ^ "SP* Episode 20: PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY – with Speaker Music [podcast]". A Closer Listen. 4 July 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  80. ^ "Listen: Model Home release collaborative album with Saint Abdullah". Le Guess Who?. 12 March 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  81. ^ St. Michael, Jonathan (20 April 2021). "Cities Aviv's 'The Crashing Sound of How It Goes' Is Too Rough Around the Edges". Exclaim!. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=PTP_(artist_collective)&oldid=1245555822"