Shon Dervis is an up and coming producer out of Chicago. 16 marks his first release as a producer.

I can’t tell you too much about Shon Dervis, since information on him is fairly sparse, but I can tell you about his first release, 16. It falls somewhere in between a beat tape and a fully formed album, which is to say that some tracks feel like fully developed songs and others feel more like beat demos. As you might expect from a debut release from a producer, it is a little up and down, so let’s look at the good parts first. The thing that hit me right away about 16 is that Dervis knows how to put together some great drums that sound really crisp and energetic. He also has a good feel for chopping and flipping samples in ways that are creative and avoid the obvious route, which also means that he might occasionally throw in a sample you’ve heard before, but also that he can position it in new light. Overall, there’s some really good boom bap and soulful beats that are pretty enjoyable. There are a few guests on here, and they too can be a little up and down, with some hopping on with some half-finished ideas, and others using their moment to shine. The one that stands out the most to me is Willow Wells, who has a great singing voice and does a really nice job of picking melodic lines that interact with the beats in some unexpected ways. The biggest problem with 16, though is merely length. I understand the impulse on your first release to put out all the material because you’re excited about it, but by the time you get to the end of the nineteenth track, the album sounds a little muddier and things start to bleed together.

16 is a decent first release from Shon Dervis, and more importantly, it shows a lot of potential. I’ll be curious to see where he’s able to go from here as he grows and learns to edit himself.