“With production credits for Mos Def, Kanye West, and Sébastien Tellier, the first entry in Ed Banger’s catalog (2003’s Radar Rider), and a role as the secret weapon of nebulous French hip-hop collective TTC, Gilles Bousquet a.k.a. Mr. Flash is very clearly the best-kept secret in France’s electro-hop scene. On June 2, he’s putting out his first album, Sonic Crusader, on Ed Banger. It’s a monster of an album: supple, nervous, full of old-school polish (he cites precedents like Prince, AC/DC, Herbie Hancock, and Sun Ra as influences), a project where the loungecore of Italian exploitation cinema intersects with cold wave over a hip-hop and electronic background.
“Number One” is the first cut from that album, and it’s stacked with features from Action Bronson, Cities Aviv, and Oh No. And now you can check it out below:”
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