36birds’s “Boy” is an addictive take on Underworld’s “Born Slippy”

Get to know up and coming queer artist 36birds with his very own version of Underworld’s monument “Born Slippy.”

A Swiss-Congolese R&B artist currently based in Bern, 36birds has been recording his own songs since he was fifteen. As a PoC, queer teenager, he would usually feel out of place in the trap and R&B environments he frequented. He is now on a mission to reclaim those spaces by channelling both the inclusivity and the textures of the techno and rave scenes. His debut offering, “Boy,” encapsulates this singular work ethic: Offering an intimate take on the frantic, high-energy, and sometimes impersonal electronic music he grew up on.

Though it is a loose interpretation of Underworld’s “Born Slippy” that also references Bronski Beat’s “Hit That Perfect Beat”, “Boy” remains its very own thing. Whereas Underworld’s original is a timeless, cocaine-fueled club banger led by its kickdrum rhythm, 36birds’s take is relatively tranquil and hash-y, something that could have ended up on a chill R&B playlist if not for its sudden forays into techno territory. “Boy” transitions jarringly between these two moods, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s a song confident of its ability to throw you off, a manic interpretation of a club classic as addictive as the original. You can watch the video for the song below, featuring a lot of drinking, smoking, dancing, and, perhaps most importantly, your future next obsession 36birds singing on a platform in the middle of a pond.