Montell2099 started making music in his grandparents house around 2010 or 2011 when his grandfather sorted him out with FL Studio to actualize his creativity. Both then and now, the New Zealand-based producer is largely beat-focused, as his output nuzzles up cozily next to the likes of the Team Supreme and Soulection crews, both of whom have publicly and consistently voiced their support of the 21-year-old creative. But the beat scene is a packed house these days, no doubt, so what exactly has allowed Montell2099 to quickly find advocacy from the likes of Mr. Carmack and Joe Kay? An attractively unique approach that sees Montell pairing up forceful percussion with meticulously placed background elements and alluringly ethereal tones.

Ask him to elaborate on his own sounds, and as Montell told Red Bull at the end of last year, his music “tickles your ears” and “makes your brain all fuzzy.” He attributes this to his manipulation of bass tracks which often flood the background, acting as non-primary yet critical components of his final records. This tickling effect comes through in many of Montell’s standout tracks like “ctrl,” “chillin,” and “space,” which span from bassline-heavy to crisply textured to celestial & arpeggiated, respectively. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.