E.VAX

American producer Evan Mast developed the experimental hip-hop outlet E*Vax in parallel with his primary group Ratatat, issuing the debut full-length Parking Lot Music in 2001 and returning two decades afterward with the self-titled E.Vax.

Prior to teaming with Mike Stroud for Ratatat’s formation in 2001, Mast had already begun crafting lo-fi, glitchy instrumental hip-hop as E*Vax; his first single, “Glacial Sports,” appeared in 1998 on the Audio Dregs imprint he ran with his brother. Additional tracks “Cross Country Ski” and “Foiled” surfaced on Static Caravan in 2000, paving the way for the complete album Parking Lot Music the following year. While devoting the bulk of his schedule to Ratatat, Mast continued occasional hip-hop work during the long gap, contributing “$100 Bill” to Jay-Z, “House of Bricks” to Despot, and both writing and production duties on Kanye West’s Kids See Ghosts project as well as the rapper’s ninth solo album, Jesus Is King. In 2021 he revived the solo endeavor with a new record that arrived exactly twenty years after the first, presenting a blend of organic textures and glitchy instrumental hip-hop.