PTP (artist collective) explained

PTP
Slogan:Purveyors of weaponized media and information.
Genre:experimental, hip hop, doom metal, electronic, noise rock
Location:New York City

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".

Artist Geng (stylized GENG PTP)[11] founded the collective as a media platform in 2009, with label operations beginning in 2012.[12] Artists associated with PTP include Dreamcrusher,[13] YATTA,[14] Dis Fig, 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, photographer Richard R. Ross,[22] and Geng, who also performs and records as King Vision Ultra.

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

History

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. 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); the album came out the same year Geng, then in his teens, transitioned from cassette decks to turntables, going on to collaborate with the Atoms Family hip hop collective in the late '90s and produce beats for Dipset in the early 2000s. 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; 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.

As PTP gained greater recognition, the collective began to prioritize using their platform to provide support for community members in need. 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. 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. The release's Bandcamp page credits pro-Palestinian organization Within Our Lifetime for inspiring the title.

Critical reception

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); 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;[35] Dis Fig's PURGE (2019); 9T Antiope's Nocebo (2019)[36] and Placebo (2020);[37] Copperhead's Gazing in the Dark (2019);[38] [39] Dreamcrusher's Panopticon![40] [41] and Another Country;[42] Amani and King Vision Ultra's An Unknown Infinite (2020);[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.

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.[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 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

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

YearArtistTitle
2012Gorgeous ChildrenGorgeous Children
2012GENG PTPScrewing Yourself To Live: A Chopped & Slowed Tribute To Black Sabbath[48]
2015Celestial TraxRide Or Die EP[49]
2015Gang Fatale / CYPHRBody Horror I[50]
2015MM / ImaabsBody Horror II[51]
2015EavesGORILLA[52] [53]
2016Joey LaBeijaShattered Dreams[54]
2016EndgameSavage EP[55] [56]
2016DJ NJ DroneSyn Stair[57] [58]
2016Celestial TraxFrom The Womb EP
2016Baby BlueCELL, Issue 01: Baby Blue/Void Gate + Audio Codex[59] [60]
2016EndgameSavage Remix EP[61]
2016CopoutForces EP
2016WWWINGSCHIMERA EP[62]
2016Club CacaoCELL, Issue 02: Club Cacao - Vae Solis[63]
2016N-ProlentaA Love Story 4...[64] [65]
2016ssalivaCELL, Issue 03: ssaliva - keys2diversion[66]
20160comeupsOne Deep[67]
2016FLORACELL, Issue 04: FLORA - City God[68]
2017EavesVerloren[69]
2017ACAPELLACELL, Issue 05: ACAPELLA - Riot In Versace[70]
2017YATTASpirit Said Yes![71]
2017BonaventureFree Lutangu[72]
2017GENGPTP-RIDD01 (Narc)
2017ViolenceHuman Dust to Fertilize the Impotent Garden[73]
2017Kepla & DeForrest Brown Jr.Absent Personae (2017)
2017Celestial TraxNothing Is Real
2017VA (Compilation)Shine[74]
2018Among The Rocks And RootsRaga
2018Saint AbdullahStars Have Eyes[75]
2018Nima AghianiREMS[76]
2018Armand HammerParaffin
2019Kepla & DeForrest Brown Jr.The Wages Of Being Black Is Death
20199T AntiopeNocebo
2019Dis FigPURGE
2019City & i.oSpirit Volume[77]
2019YATTAWahala[78]
2019lojiilofeye
2019CopperheadGazing In The Dark
2020Saint AbdullahWhere Do We Go, Now?
2020DreamcrusherPanopticon!
2020DreamcrusherAnother Country
2020A Space for SoundSound Bath Mixtape Vol.1
2020Sour Spirit / Sour DataLIVE DUSS I
2020Sour SpiritLIVE DUSS II
2020Sour VisionEast Side Powerviolence
2020Speaker Music & bookwormsAs Serious As Your Life
2020Amani & King Vision UltraAn Unknown Infinite[79]
20209T AntiopePlacebo[80]
2020King Vision UltraQUATTRO (death circus)
2020H31rVe·loc·i·ty
2020Speaker Musica bitter but beautiful struggle[81]
2020AKAI SOLOEleventh Wind
2021ContourWeight
2021AKAI SOLO x BSTFRNDLike Hajime
2021Model Home + Saint AbdullahInvasive Inclinations[82]
2021Mimz & DunnInfinite Lawn
2021maassaiWith The Shifts
2021AKAI SOLO & Navy BlueTrue Sky
2021Cities AvivTHE CRASHING SOUND OF HOW IT GOES[83]
2021madam dataThe Gospel of the Devourer
2021GENG PTPSlowness as the Vehicle II
2021Centennial GardensSPLIT
2021Lungs/LoneSwordThe Birth of LoneSword
2021GENG PTPSlowness as the Vehicle III
2021phiik + S!LENCETHAT WAS A TEST
2021Devin KKennyNY LOTTERY / CBD KRATOM
2022Lord KaysoMOOR CHORES
2022GENG PTPSlowness as the Vehicle IV
2022grey wulfPath Of Urda
2022SwayaEXistence
2022GENG PTPSlowness as the Vehicle: Portishead Forever
2022Fatboi Sharif x nofacePreaching In Havana
2022Straw + GENG PTPRETROVERTIGO
2023YATTAFully Lost, Fully Found
2023King Vision UltraShook World (hosted by Algiers)
2023babyfangIn The Face Of
2023seina sleep & YoursTruulyTRUUSLEEP
2023DreamcrusherSuite ONE
2023E L U C I DEvery Egg I Cracked Today Was Double Yolked (REDUX)
2023kœnig1 Above Minus Underground
2023Centennial Gardensarchive live 03.26.2023 mucho stereo
2023DreamcrusherSuite TWO
2023Temp-Illusionfailsafe
2024Various ArtistsRESIST COLONIAL POWER BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY

Notes and References

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

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