(Self-released, digital)
On American Classical Studies, Vermont beatmaker Justin Boland channels his creative spirit by “scavenging in the footsteps of giants,” as he writes in the album’s liner notes. The result is an edifying work of art in the vein of Horace’s “Ars Poetica.” Sure, one’s a contemporary beat tape of laboriously composed jazz samples, and the other’s a treatise on poetry from the Classical Age. Still, these two trailblazers share a zeal for their craft that is as undeniable as it is shatterproof.
Released under the pseudonym YETI MANE, American Classical Studies contains an Oxford Companion‘s worth of jazz history in the form of a hip-hop beat tape. It’s a spellbinding 27 minutes of unbroken beats steeped in sleek piano riffs, clean trumpet coos, walking bass lines and pocket-groove drum patterns. Overlaid with hard-hitting affirmations voiced by a slew of influential musicians, American Classical Studies is Boland’s creative manifesto made into art. It’s also an immersive master class for the next generation of creators.
Outside of the YETI MANE persona, Boland is a champion of Vermont’s ever-expanding rap and hip-hop scene. He’s the founder of the now-defunct Vermont Hip Hop News website and a regular contributor to Seven Days. From album reviews to music features, an intrinsic reverence for musicianship is baked into Boland’s point of view. On American Classical Studies, he isn’t shy about pronouncing his workhorse aesthetic as both an artist and an unsung teacher of the craft.
Just as Horace’s “Ars Poetica” was groundbreaking for merging poetry and criticism, American Classical Studies marks Boland’s meta reprisal of evergreen dialogues on artistic evolution. His creative spirit is so fully formed that the album seems a natural progression of his oeuvre. Boland creates his own syntax using piano, drums and bass as if they were parts of speech comprising a unique language. American Classical Studies reveals an industrious attitude and an unwavering affection for hip-hop and music history.
The album moves at a Goldilocks tempo: not too fast or slow, but grounded in a steady, four-four time signature over which sparse arrangements on electric piano and upright bass take turns in the lead position. Shifting gracefully between playful banter and willful restraint, Boland’s melodies recall the laconic earworm hooks of Slum Village’s early catalog.
Note for note, Boland creates unexpected chords that resist the straightforward voicings of run-of-the-mill triads where the tonic is always in root position. The mood is evocative of Black Milk’s backing band Nat Turner, whose propulsive combination of jazz, funk and hip-hop soul made plain that true visionaries resist the trappings of genre.
A swatch book of textured beats, Boland’s compositions are primed for a voice to rap over, but this is no stuffy portfolio. It’s a love letter to every guiding star shining in his creative ether — every engineer, musician, instrument, tone and technique that helped him hone his aesthetic as YETI MANE.
Centuries apart, Boland and Horace would likely agree that it would behoove any artist in pursuit of mastery in their craft to commit to the painstaking practice of self-discovery. More than an art form, it’s an art of being that’s built on human will and devotion. Oh, and lots of time spent scavenging the annals of history in search of greatness.
De facto proof of his master’s seat, American Classical Studies affirms Boland’s evolved musical tastes and expertly honed sensibilities as a beatmaker. It’s available at yetimane.bandcamp.com.
This article appears in Jan 22-28, 2025.
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