Vinyet

Though chopped up, re-edited, and looped, the old bağlama samples and airy tanbur vibrations that Ethnique Punch (aka Al’Eksan) couples with twisting synth lines and woozy hip-hop rhythms conjure the same immersive, hypnotic energy of the Sufi traditions from which he draws. On Vinyet the Turkish MC repurposes old makam styles — the complex system of melodic modes used in Turkish classical and folk music, each with its specific set of rules, microtones, and emotional nuances — and reshapes them into beat form, so that they are barely recognizable but maintain the same expressive force. His deep voice and self-assured delivery cut through the smokey, slightly stoned atmospheres with rhythmic precision, skillfully bridging the annals of Turkish music from the Ottoman Empire to Istanbul’s contemporary hip-hop scene.