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Dutch Beat-maker & Producer Reinier Thijs Returns with Third Jazz-inflected Release of 2018 DOKKUM EP (Thijsenterprise)




Thijsenterprise is the recording alias of Dutch beat-maker and producer Reinier Thijs, who currently resides in Barcelona, Spain. Earlier this year, Thijs self-released his 42-track debut, STEPBACKS & SETBACKS, as well as Je Hebt De Boem En De Klap with Laurens Beijer (Drumma Sheen) as 2-Two Legged Dogs. STEPBACKS & SETBACKS even received critical acclaim from The Find Mag, Beat Tape Co-Op, and Sampleface, amongst other reputable music publications. Thijsenterprise says "Side A" of STEPBACKS & SETBACKS is inspired by the city of Barcelona and serves as a loosely-orchestrated tribute/homage to J Dilla's Donuts, while "Side B" of the record "deals with much more personal issues [such as] cheating, heartbreak, and solitude." Now, just before year's end, Reinier Thijs has returned with his staggering third full-length project of 2018: DOKKUM EP. It's named after Thijs' home city of Dokkum in Friesland, The Netherlands and consists of 14 dusty Jazz-laden tracks clocking in at just under 15 minutes total runtime.


"This EP contains straight up chops and loops of drum breaks and catchy basslines with no singers allowed. This is a personal tribute to the place where the beat-maker was born and raised: Dokkum, The Netherlands," reads part of Thijsenterprise's DOKKUM press release. For DOKKUM, Reinier Thijs cites Hip-Hop heavyweights J Dilla, Madlib, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, and Knxwledge as his greatest sources of inspiration on his beats. Although, Thijs says he's been playing sax for almost 20 years and readily cites "saxophone players, of course, like John Coltrane, Michael Moore, Benjamin Herman, and Don Byas" as well piano players, and bass players. He frequently listens to Jazz, Funk, Soul, African, Brazilian & Latin music, Hip-Hop, and "everything in between. Old and new stuff, doesn't matter." However, unlike 2-Two Legged Dogs' Je Hebt De Boem En De Klap, Thijsenterprise's DOKKUM is a 100% sample-based EP with primarily utilizing drum and bass samples from Jazz, Soul, Funk, and even Punk/Hardcore records. Thijsenterprise's DOKKUM EP is now available on Bandcamp, along with STEPBACKS & SETBACKS and Je Hebt De Boem En De Klap.