The Mix 33: HiTech

HiTech are all about energy. The pure energy of the party. Undistilled fun, expression and liberation. The Detroit trio deliver an unfiltered, hypnotic take on dance music channelled through the high-energy ghetto tech genre. The group, made up of King Milo, Milf Melly and 47Chops, have been blazing a trail over the past few years, igniting dance floors with their incendiary sets.

All three of them were already making music before forming HiTech, with rap being the main focus before the music of their hometown took effect. Ghetto tech strips things down to the bare essentials, with lo-fi drums, bass and earworm vocal mantras forming the foundations of most tracks. HiTech’s sets weave together ghetto tech, with drum ’n’ bass, jit, rap, ghetto house and a range of styles all centred around fast-paced delivery, high vibes and often provocative X-rated vocals. 47 and King Milo usually select the tracks with Milo also jumping on the mic, along with Milf, hyping up the crowd, encouraging most pits and spitting bars from their own ultra-catchy productions.

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Their rise up the ranks represents a kind of passing on of the baton, with a new generation putting their own spin on a longstanding genre and captivating younger audiences with it. There are parallels between HiTech’s rise to prominence and that of British artists like Nia Archives (who they’ll be performing with at The Warehouse Project in November). Ultimately, HiTech embody a type of authenticity that simply cannot be faked. They stay true to themselves without even thinking about it and they encourage others to follow suit, bring that energy to the party and create one whole unified force. A force for change that counteracts the self-censorship and division plaguing the world.

Mixmag sat down with the hilarious trio to talk daddies, butt stuff, partying and international travel, among many other topics…

So, firstly, where do your artist names come from?

King Milo: My artist name came from a tattoo. I was very into bait, but never had bait. Very into bait. Never had any bait.

Why didn't you have any bait?

KM: Didn’t have any money. I got my first tattoo when I was 16. So I was “Baby Milo”, but it was kind of just like I'm King Milo. So that's all I did. I've been Milo forever.

Milf Melly: I was in high school and I was just watching a whole bunch of porn.

47Chops: I got my name on some numerology shit. Then chops is different ways of chopping shit: like music, cooking, talking… all consistent chopping, you know, I fuck with that.

What's the significance of the number 47?

47: It kind of gets deep, and I don't want to get too deep, but it's a number that represents, balance and embracing creativity. And it's a number that I usually see often in times where I'm on the right track. I see other numbers that let me know when I'm fucking up.

In an interview earlier this year, you spoke about wanting to hit shit up worldwide. Now I've seen your upcoming tour dates and you're making it happen. How's that for you?

KM: It's fun. It's cool to experience people who heard of us, but never seen us. So we can get in there, and we can show them that world, show them what we were talking about, and then they can take it to other folks, so they can want to see what the fuck we talking about. Because ultimately, you come to a party with us, and you rocking at the party, and your friend hasn't gone, then you go to party with your friend, and we're not at the party - you're gonna show your friend how to party. And then you're gonna tell your friend about the party you went to where you learned how to party. Ultimately, what we what we got in mind, we're just shifting the culture with sound from Detroit,

47: Like, Spiderman - “With great power comes great responsibility”!

Where did you guys learn how to party?

Milf: I come from a long lineage of partyers. My daddy was a partyer and his daddy was a partyer, and after that's when he met his daddy.

KM: And my daddy was a partyer and his daddy was a partyer and after that, that's when he met his daddy!

47: And my daddy was partying and doing all type of shit! I don't even know if they daddies..,

KM: …was partying together! My mumma is in Mexico right now, partying in Tulum! I love my daddy to death. He a blockbuster. He always on the block party. He know how to do a party at the corner store... Nah, but for real n****s literally learn how to party from Detroit. It's like a little mini freaknick everywhere. You know the basement parties. It’s little secret conventions of “show me how freaky you are”, and then everybody gets together, and we all boo boo boo boo boo boo, because we met at a little freaky party. So it's things like that brings good people together.

What's your definition of freaky?

KM: Some people take it disrespectfully, but I be like, “No, there's only good things. It's all good”. You can be a little bit of freaky, a lotta bit of freaky. You still a freak. We talk about butt stuff, we can not talk about butt stuff, but it's freaky. Well, we can talk about the bus stuff.

Tell me about breaking out of Detroit and hitting up the rest of the world. What's it done for you in terms of getting an understanding of the world and other places outside of Detroit?

KM: It’s showing us that people are still willing to come out… i.e. that COVID shit: For a minute everybody was all clocked in and locked in. Then everybody was locked in, like, real tight against their will. And then it became a free bird type of vibe. We locked in during the quarantine and all that shit, right? That's when we started making the ghetto tech because, before that, we was making other types of shit. But it was so close to home, we always listened to it. That's how it came about anyways, through people being locked in. So out here we see people willing and we get to explore that with them. It's all new to us every time, just like it's new to them or new to everybody who wants to experience. That's the best part for me.

47: To add to that. Experiencing other countries and shit like that, where everybody wants to dance - that's where we're at in our current time. It doesn't matter what it sound like, or where it's coming from, it's the sort of sound that's gonna make you want to move and dance. It's a pretty cool time to be in and be alive.

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How did the connection with Nia Archives come about?

KM: We met Nia's manager in Detroit when she came out to perform at Leland City Club. I forgot who it was we were talking to, I think it was our manager at the time and they said come through and say hi to Nia. So we did, and we talked to her and her manager, and they stayed up with us, kept up on us, and then reached out. They were like, “Yo, y'all gonna come and do the thing?” It was like, [in silly quivering voice] “Oooh yeah!”. So it's gonna be a good party, and plus, Nia know how to party,

I feel like there are some parallels between what you guys are doing. It's a slightly different sound, but there's still this thing a younger generation that's connecting with a genre that's been around for a while, doing their own thing with it, and then the younger people just connecting with that shit so hard. How did the ghetto tech thing start to come into your musical sphere?

KM: We been listening to it since forever. You in Detroit. You in the car. Sometime after seven, you listening to a party mix where n****s is at the club and they like: “This Rashad's birthday! Give it up for Rashad's birthday, all big booty girls on the floor! Get your mother clothes off!". It was always around and in the vibes, all through growing up. They don't stop it, even now they pretty much not stopping it. It still going on in Detroit. For us, we've been rapping, making music, rapping, but we wanted something different. And it came around the Covid time. It was the release of being confined, in the same sound with the same vibe. We just wanted to dance and start saying the stuff that's on our mind and not have to think about it. Rap is a challenge. It's a competition. Then it's hard to be as free because being hurt is the point of that. But we got to be free doing it. We just made it, just playing around, because we like “This sound is here for us”, not understanding that not everybody knows about it. So we made our own version. It was just having fun.

That’s what I love about it - it's the playfulness, the party vibe. You don't really have to think too much. You're just in it. It’s more physical than it is intellectual.

KM: We want everybody to feel what we're saying, but we don't want nobody to think about it. We was talking about, “Why You Fuck My Ops?” It's like, okay, everybody understands that! You could dance to it. Then you got shit, like, 'Let Me Spank', which is like something we about to drop in a minute. We're just like, “Let me spank. Let me touch that ass. You're beautiful, you're fine, you're smart. Let me touch that ass.” Asking for consent - “If you comfortable with it, may I grip upon thine ass”!

So I hear you've got lots of new material on the way, what's cooking?

KM: We got a lot of unreleased tracks, whole lot of shit. I mean, the only plan is to, I guess, to look at “How we gonna talk about all this right here, so you don’t have to navigate and just play”. It's always with intention and purpose. We just want to put a little gift bow, on it like, “There you go, baby. Just spin that bitch to somebody else”. So it's gonna be fun. It's gonna be more to more of the feelings, more feelings.

When you guys are in the studio, getting creative, does it flow quite easily for you?

KM: If it doesn't feel natural, man, we just don't do that. We'll sit there, like, “Do I like, like this? Does it feel natural?” If it doesn't, we just wait, because a track it'll tell you what it needs. It's not that you're not right, you’re just not right now.

How is it for you guys representing Detroit internationally?

KM: It feels great, because everybody in the towns know what we doing right, because everybody got their business and they all minded - and everybody who know about the party comes to it. So it feels good. It feels real good.

47: I feel like we’re able to represent Detroit in the best way and it’s don’t get no better than that.

Do you guys feel any responsibility for making people aware that it's not just techno that comes from Detroit?

KM: The ghetto tech thing is second nature and the setting is not just listen to the music, the setting is live the life. Before I say “Listen to this song” I'm gonna say “Come here to party”. Because, when you come to party and they play the song, you gonna realize the song is a part of the party. The party is life. You live a life. You're learning people. If you're learning people, you live a life, you're learning more life. I'm big on people. I'm big on being personable. I walk in the room and I call somebody “Little Daddy” and, for some people, they'll be like, “Little Daddy? What you mean?” There's so many textures to what you say. Just mind blown. I'm like, “You’re Little Daddy. You Big Mumma. You me, I'm you. We vibing”. You like something. Oh, go for that. Don't like it? Shit, find another way to love it.

There's a very big culture of therapy speak, people being very self aware, more self aware than ever before. And there's this whole thing about being authentic. And people describe themselves like: “Oh, I'm in my authenticity. I'm an authentic person”. But, as soon as you have to say that, you're not authentic anymore. 've listened to your music, there's an authenticity there that is present because you just live this. This is what you are. You don't think about it. You're not trying to do it because it's cool or trendy, it's just what you love and what you do and how you express yourselves, and that is authenticity.

KM: (Quoting Dave Chappelle) I don't like people playing on my phone. I keeps it real!

On that note, outside of music, where do you guys take influence from?

KM: I take a lot of inspiration from films ranging from 2004 to 2012, because I feel like that was just a realm of different comedy that is not really expressed in today's world. I can honestly say that I've seen the world change and the people change with it. They're not really making films like that, and they really can't say what they was saying back in the day nowadays, because people get offended.

Going back to the self awareness thing, sometimes I'm around people and I'm like, “I don't know if I can say that anymore”. It shouldn't even be a thing that I have to think about. But you kind of do, because someone might react in the wrong way. But then I don't want to be that.

47: A lot of us like that. We don't want to be like that.

KM: That's the whole point. That's why I'm like, “Everybody come together and party. You're gonna learn who you're partying with”. There are difficulties in life, but if you can open up your heart and release your inhibitions, right

47: George Clinton said: “Free your ass and your mind will follow”

KM: It was “Free your mind and your ass will follow”! I prefer your version!

Is there another album in the works?

KM: We got the mixtape about to drop in the fall, which is everything we doing. I've been saying this, everything we do is for the culture, but our mixtapes gonna stay aligned for the Detroit style of energy. We trying to do more and do bigger things with ghetto tech in our way. But we got people back home. We got folks around that we met. They're gonna help us for this notion. But the tape, the honey pack is coming like in the fall. And I know you know what a honey pack is. It's that rock solid concoction...

You've mentioned that you’re doing it for the culture. Why is it important to be doing what you're doing for the culture? What's the importance of that?

KM: Because everybody got a voice, and they need to use it, and if they can't use it, we use it for you. You got something to say, know you can say it and know that it's people around who understand that you feel locked in. Bring it to the party. It'll bring it to the table, and you can free yourself.

47: We've been raised on dance music. Having those influences and creating our own shit, we just want to dance and have fun. And that, in itself, is liberating and healing, So being able to share that with the world, and specifically where it comes from, is just the icing on the cake.

Can you tell us about this mix?

We want people to release their inhibitions and let go. To be in it, be in the moment, till you don’t recognise anything that’s going on outside. To Truly be free and enjoy the human experience.

Marcus Barnes is a freelance writer and regular contributor to Mixmag, follow him on Instagram

Tracklist:
Love Regenerator and Steve Lacy 'Live Without Your Love'
Denis Naidanow and Tyree Cooper 'Wonderland'
Ralph Castelli 'Morning Sex'
Dagga 'Ain't Feel Like'
Mix Master Kutyma 'Get Low' (Yes Mix)
YK DJCHICKENWING 'The RealKT' (Freestyle)
trustmeshorty 'Joyrd.btc'
ATM 'ASSLINE' (Jaguar Flip)
FLEXULAND 'What is Love'
DJ Rashad & Gant-Man 'Acid Life'
Yaeji 'booboo'
HiTech 'Spank'
HiTech - ?
HiTech ft. GT 'DETROIT MONEY PHONE'
DJ Pirna 'It Smells Like Bootyhole on Mars… Bring me Back to Earth!'
Glove Traxx 'Actin Like'
Terrance Parker 'She Always Makes Me Dance'
DJ Innes 'Pussy Ha'
Park Hye Jin 'I DON’T CARE'
Andrés 'New For U'
ATM 'Slammin’'
Virgo 'Apple Pie'
Garneau 'Pistol Grip'
DJ Slugo 'The Blunt'
DJ Funk 'Every Freakin Day, Every Freakin Night'
DJ Assault 'Check Stub'
Cherriep 'Ghost'