Exmilitary

Exmilitary
Mixtape by Death Grips
Released April 25, 2011
Genre
Length 48:28
Label Self-released
Producer Death Grips
Death Grips chronology
Death Grips
(2011)		 Exmilitary
(2011)		 The Money Store
(2012)
Black Google
Cover of Black Google
Singles from Exmilitary
  1. "Guillotine"
    Released: August 3, 2011

Exmilitary, also known as Ex Military, is the debut mixtape by experimental hip hop group Death Grips. It was released for free on April 25, 2011 through the band's website.

Background

The mixtape was released for free on April 25, 2011 through the group's official website, thirdworlds.net. It was simultaneously released through iTunes. The track "Guillotine" was released through iTunes on August 3, 2011. "Guillotine" has become one of the band's most recognized songs, with over six million YouTube views on their music video as of October 29, 2017. Other tracks released as music videos include "Known for it", "Culture Shock", "Lord of the Game", "Spread Eagle Cross the Block", "Takyon (Death Yon)", and "Beware." The cover of the album is somewhat of a mystery, even to members of the band. According to Andy Morin, "That’s a photograph that one of our members carried in their wallet for roughly 10 years straight. It’s a power object."[3]

The album was later released exclusively through the band's website in vinyl, compact disc and cassette formats.[4][5] It was also removed from iTunes and Spotify.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic82/100[6]
Review scores
SourceRating
Consequence of SoundB[7]
Drowned in Sound9/10[8]
The Guardian[9]
Pitchfork7.5/10[10]

The album has received universal acclaim from critics and currently holds an approval rating of 82 on Metacritic.[6] In one very positive review, John Calvert of Drowned in Sound focused on the mentality of the character that the album revolves around and how it reflects the inner nature of man, citing the lyricism and sound production as being focal points around this sound and style.[8] Nate Patrin of Pitchfork gave Exmilitary a 7.5, describing the album as "a bludgeoning slab of hostility" that avoids being an "overbearing mess".[10]

Black Google

On September 8, 2011, the group released a teaser video for an upcoming project titled Black Google.[11] It was later released on the band's website for free and revealed to be all of the instrumentals, stems, and acapellas for fans to remix and record with. The cover of Black Google features a heavily darkened version of the cover of Exmilitary with the word "Exmilitary" replaced with "Black Google".[12]

Track listing

All tracks written by Death Grips.

No.TitleLength
1."Beware"5:53
2."Guillotine"3:43
3."Spread Eagle Cross the Block"3:52
4."Lord of the Game" (featuring Mexican Girl)3:30
5."Takyon (Death Yon)"2:48
6."Cut Throat (Instrumental)"1:12
7."Klink"3:22
8."Culture Shock"4:21
9."5D"0:43
10."Thru the Walls"3:56
11."Known for It"4:13
12."I Want It I Need It (Death Heated)"6:11
13."Blood Creepin"4:50
Total length:48:28

Sample credits

  • "Beware" contains excerpts of Charles Manson's "I Make The Money Man" interview, samples of "Up The Beach", written and performed by Jane's Addiction and samples of "God Is Watching You", performed by Dickie Burton.
  • "Spread Eagle Cross the Block" contains elements of "Rumble", written by Link Wray and Milt Grant, and performed by Link Wray and His Men, and samples of "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)" and "Girls", written and performed by Beastie Boys.
  • "Lord of the Game" contains samples of "The Ditty", performed by Blue Devils, a sample of "Brass Monkey", written and performed by Beastie Boys, and a vocal sample of "Fire", written and performed by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.
  • "Takyon (Death Yon)" contains samples of "The Ditty", performed by Blue Devils, a sample of "Supertouch/Shitfit", written and performed by Bad Brains and a sample of "A Who Seh Me Dun", written and performed by Cutty Ranks.
  • "Cut Throat (Instrumental)" contains samples of "Move Somethin'", written and performed by 2 Live Crew and samples of "Death Grips (Next Grips)" written and performed by Death Grips.
  • "Klink" contains elements of "Rise Above" written and performed by Black Flag and a sample of "Liar Liar", written and performed by The Castaways.
  • "Culture Shock" contains a sample of "The Supermen (Alternative)", written and performed by David Bowie and samples of a text to speech translator.
  • "5D" contains samples of a text to speech translator and samples of "West End Girls", written and performed by Pet Shop Boys.
  • "Thru The Walls" contains elements taken from the movie "Space Is the Place", a sample of a Youtube video "Mental Health Hotline", and a sample of "Gettin' High In The Mornin'", written and performed by Ariel Pink and the Haunted Graffiti.
  • "Known for It" contains elements taken from the 1986 short animated film "Quest: A Long Ray's Journey Into Light" and samples of "De Futura", written and performed by Magma.
  • "I Want It I Need It (Death Heated)" contains elements of "Interstellar Overdrive" and "Astronomy Domine", both written and performed by Pink Floyd.

Personnel

Death Grips
  • MC Ride – vocals
  • Zach Hill – drums, percussion, production
  • Andy Morin – keyboards, programming, production
Other personnel
  • Liz Liles (credited as Mexican Girl) – backing vocals (Track 4)

References

  1. ↑ Walls, Seth Colter. "In Defense of Rap Rock". Slate. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Death Grips – The Money Store". Fact. April 16, 2012. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
  3. ↑ "coolehmag.com". Coolehmag.com. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  4. ↑ "Death Grips - Ex Military". Discogs. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
  5. ↑ "Death Grips Store". Hellomerch.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-26. Retrieved 2012-06-29.
  6. 1 2 "Reviews for Exmilitary by Death Grips". Metacritic. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  7. ↑ Young, Alex (June 27, 2011). "Death Grips – Exmilitary". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  8. 1 2 Calvert, John (August 8, 2011). "Album Review: Death Grips – Ex Military". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  9. ↑ MacInnes, Paul (December 22, 2011). "Death Grips: Ex-Military – review". The Guardian. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  10. 1 2 Patrin, Nate (June 30, 2011). "Death Grips: Exmilitary". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 6, 2012.
  11. ↑ "Death Grips – Black Google". YouTube. 2011-09-08. Retrieved 2012-06-29.
  12. ↑ "Black Google Download". Thirdworlds.net. Retrieved 2012-06-29.
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