YAAK and Z. Lewis turn up the energy on ‘10MERITS’

Melbourne producer YAAK has teamed up with rapper Z. Lewis for one of the hardest tracks to come out of the scene this year. A mix of ominous, boisterous instrumentals and ruthless bar after bar of lyrical incisiveness, the track will leave you craving live music even more than you ever have during this lockdown period.

‘10MERITS’ is the type of song that thrives in the most energetic of environments. It’s a track which serves as a surefire method to help switch-up that uninspired mood into one of full-throttled, unbridled confidence. Undeniably, this track takes me back to the grime explosion of 2016 in Australia. And whilst ’10MERITS’ is undoubtedly its own inimitable beast in its sound; the refreshing energy of that era is embodied through the expert mesh of explosive production and blood-pumping bars on ‘10MERITS’. The synergy between the pair on this collaboration is elite, with YAAK masterfully crafting a bombastic beat for Z. Lewis to run amok on through his expert grime delivery and flow.

Sonically, the track has been forged intimately from its fiery core to its heated outer crust by YAAK’s uncanny knack for balancing the familiar and the unique with aplomb. Z. Lewis’ lyrics pack an astounding punch, with the brash attitude in his delivery accentuating his clear ability as a rapper in juggling the unrelenting speed of YAAK’s technical efforts. Moreover, Z. Lewis brings plenty of finesse to his wordplay that sees the rapper acknowledging the workrate and passion that has gotten him to this point. The final moments of the track appear to hint at a potential second collaboration between the pair with a future-bass style beat switch-up. Whilst we hope this comes to fruition, in the meantime, whilst we wait, be sure to blast ‘10MERITS’ as loud as you can.

Photo by Sam Perkins (@sjperkins)

Words by Matthew Badrov