CODE First Play: J-Phlip, Say My Name'

After the breakout success of Breach’s “Jack” in 2013, there might have been a whisper around the Dirtybird Records camp about following it up with another smash. Who would blame label boss Claude VonStroke for trying? But Dirtybird’s Jessica Phillippe aka J-Phlip’s latest tune for the west coast techno label does anything but pander to hitmaking even as it commands your attention. Listen to the premiere of “Say My Name” exclusively here:

“I started it way back in February last year, because I really wanted a new track to put on my mix for [BBC Radio One DJs] Skream & Benga,” Phillippe says of the recording process. “It made it on the mix, but the final version actually just slowly made its way to getting finished over several months after that.”

The vocal sample on “Say My Name” reveals an often-untold story about how techno tracks are made. Obscure recordings can be re-worked or re-recorded as samples, sometimes changing so much from the original that they eschew the need to be cleared or credited. The sourcing of the sound is a creative process itself as unique to the producer as a wholly original production.

As for the vocal on “Say My Name,” J-Phlip will only confirm that it’s inspired by a ghetto-tech record “that shall remain nameless.”

“It took me years to track down that record,” she says. “I'm just not going to give it up to the public that easy.”

“Say My Name” is available on January 20th from Dirtybird Records.