Merdan Taplak

“Join the circle, tune into my channel”. (from ‘Join the circle’) Electro-disco with a vicious balearic-vibe. Add the euphoria of a Turkish halay dance. Beats that redefine the eighties, bleeps that honour the nineties, rapping that manoeuvres through the 2.0-millennium. Join the circle, be part of the story. Merdan Taplak is a mediator on In It For The Honey. Meet the relentless shaman of beats who plunges the complete dance floor in his musical melting pot. Do not try to label him; labels do not stick on him. Do not attempt to interpret him; it is impossible to read between the lines. His vibes manipulate the party people as if they were puppets. However, he does not pull the strings randomly. In It For The Honey offers you the sweet feeling of the club but there is more. Merdan Taplak serves the 50/50-people their soundtrack. Who is he, really? Just some Belgian guy with Turkish roots? A crucible of the present, the past and the future? A half-breed on the crossroads of cultures. A musical guide to tenderness and trance. “People who are on the crossroads of cultures will more easily absorb influences and impressions from so many different corners and send them out again”, explains Merdan Taplak. “Why would you shy away from your double identity?” Only spineless pussies that are too afraid to look in the mirror. In It For The Honey dots the i’s and crosses the t’s in Identity. It does not matter where you come from. What matters is what you do with your cultural background. In Merdan Taplak’s case: lash the groove until it becomes his own. If it is not with his Orkestar, like during his white-hot live shows, it is in the recording studios with Arne Van Petegem (Styrofoam), his partner in crime during the creative process of In It For The Honey. Whether he pairs up with the cool kitten Princess Superstar (on ‘Chosen ones’), with the sharp-edged mc Fat Jon (on ‘Join the circle’) or with The Glimmers (on the title track of the album), Merdans’ stormy sound prevails every time. This is global music, music from nowhere and everywhere, from the past and the present, with the eyes set to the future. In It For The Honey joins the raving hotchpotch of like-minded artists such as Buraka Som Sistema and the wicked Diplo and his Mad Decent posse. Merdan Taplak’s seething mishmash plays M.I.A. a nasty trick, while the Crookers eat their heart out with his pounding bass wobbles. The circle is now complete. The dance accelerates, God is a dj, the vibe is sweet. Eager for more? Turn on, tune in, … rock out. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.