Thug Entrancer

Around 2011, Ryan McRyhew relocated from Denver, Colorado to Chicago’s South Side and adopted the alias Thug Entrancer for his experimental electronic work. Relying on analog drum machines, synths, and assorted vintage equipment, he began shaping tracks that fused the shadowy end of house rhythms with ominous ambient layers. His initial output emerged online, starting with Tropics Mind, Vols. 1-2 in late 2011, a third volume the following year, and the two-track EP Love and Happiness still later in 2012. The first official album, Death After Life—a wide-ranging set of stark material—appeared on Mexican Summer’s electronic imprint Software Recording Co. in early 2014. After maintaining a consistent tour schedule, he issued the mixtape Data Slave near the close of 2015 and followed it with the full-length Arcology in 2016.