Supreme Cuts

Expanding the genre of cloud rap enough to come off as a mix of Clams Casino and Cocteau Twins, the Chicago duo known as Supreme Cuts were born as a serene alternative to their hometown's other hot electronica genre of the time, footwork. Producers Mike Perry and Austin Keultjes were fans of everything from Timbaland to My Bloody Valentine when they met in 2007, and while the uptempo house music they first started recording was closer to the pounding sound of footwork than their later releases, they really got their aggression out with Gruel, their avant-punk band who self-released the album Hell Gibson in 2010. Supreme Cuts premiered a year later with the Trouble EP on the Small Plates label, along with two volumes of their self-released Edits series, which found the duo unofficially remixing everyone from Shelia E. to Araabmuzik. In 2012 they partnered with Brooklyn producer and MC Haleek Maul for the Chrome Lips album released by the streetwear label Mishka, while their own album, the all-instrumental Whispers in the Dark, arrived that year on Dovecote. The label also released their 2014 effort Divine Ecstasy, but this time there were vocals from the likes of Mahaut Mondino, Channy from Poliça, plus a returning Haleek Maul.