When looking up Terrell Hines, one of the first results shows the Georgia-born artist on the hugely popular “Anti-Pop” playlist, and upon listening to Hines’s album ‘Portal One: The Mixtape,’ I can honestly say it’s a fair assessment. 

Hines’ musical concepts are wide and far-reaching––his official press release describes an “even split of postmodern and post-apocalyptic,” and given the current state of the world right now, Portal One seems the perfect backdrop for a world constantly in flux. Hines, who is currently based in Los Angeles, seems to reject convention with his very being; this is apparent in Portal One, where first track ‘Promise’ starts out as a dreamy orchestral cloud before launching one of the most unexpected beat drops that ever took me by surprise. Skimming through the songs, I thought Oh, this guy is going to be good.

While I was initially surprised at the relatively big-name features on the EP––Vince Staples and BJ the Chicago Kid––it turns out that Hines ultimately doesn’t need to rely on outside sources for a cohesive sound. You can tell that the production on this album is high-quality, lending itself to a vivid sound, each song conjuring a very specific image and place in time. ‘Wu Dirt’, a bluesy piano-and-bass tune, injects a modern spin on a thorough boom-bap sound (this one would sound great on vinyl!) Meanwhile, Hines goes in the opposite direction with interlude ‘Bending’ and ‘With Me’, tracks that combine angsty vocals and distorted guitar to create a moody vibe that would sound perfect on a vice-laden TV show like Sons of Anarchy or Peaky Blinders. If fact, it’s hard to listen to these songs without knowing that it’s only a matter of time before Hollywood agents scramble to secure the rights to them. My favourite track on Portal One is ‘Get Up’: dark and exhilarating, it’s a frenetic piece that features Hines with powerhouse Vince Staples. The two of them work well together, building off each other’s energy and blazing through tempos, leaving a scorched earth trail behind. 

As with many successful artists on the underground scene today, Hines doesn’t stick to a particular genre, and this, I think, is what gives him his superpower. For a more established artist, the utter difference between all the songs on the album might read as a lack of consistency, but in the case of Hines, it seems like he’s simply exploring his talent in all the ways he can––and to good effect. Hines plays around with filters, distortion, mood, and style; this is his game, and we are simply lucky enough to be the spectators.