Zeds Dead Celebrate 10 Years of Deadbeats With ‘We Are Deadbeats Vol. 7’
Zeds Dead mark ten years of their Deadbeats label with a 17-track compilation spanning deep dubstep, halftime, trip-hop and more.
Deadbeats is officially ten years old, and Zeds Dead are celebrating the only way a label like this really can: with a monster compilation. We Are Deadbeats Vol. 7 landed Friday, packing 17 tracks from across the bass spectrum into the seventh edition of the series that’s basically served as a state-of-the-scene address since it started.
Quick history lesson if you’re newer here: the Toronto duo launched Deadbeats back in 2016, and it quickly became one of the most trusted names in bass music. This is the label that gave early looks to artists like Subtronics, REZZ, Mersiv and Champagne Drip before they were headliner names. So when a new We Are Deadbeats volume drops, people pay attention — not just for the tunes, but for the “who’s next” of it all.
Vol. 7 keeps that scouting tradition alive. Returning Deadbeats family like Distinct Motive, Mary Droppinz, Smoakland and Hydraulix share the tracklist with a deep bench of newer names — Blurrd Vzn, OVEREAZY, Baclash, PapaJay, Floret Loret, Crawdad Sniper (yes, that’s a real artist name, and yes, it rules) and plenty more. Stylistically it’s all over the map in the best way: deep dubstep, 140, halftime, trip-hop and some genuinely weird experimental corners. It plays less like a playlist and more like a scene check-in across 17 tracks.
The compilation is also the centerpiece of a year-long tenth anniversary campaign that’s already brought Deadbeats celebrations to Miami, London and Paris, according to the label. Ten years is an eternity in dance music label terms — most imprints don’t survive half that — and Deadbeats has managed to stay relevant through multiple bass music cycles without chasing whatever sound was trending that month.
Want a quick starting point before committing to all 17? Blurrd Vzn’s “Party Rocker” has been an early standout for its trap-meets-dubstep energy, and PapaJay’s “Bring Me Back” covers the emotional end of the spectrum. But honestly, the fun of these comps has always been finding your own sleeper favorite — somebody on this tracklist is going to be headlining festivals in three years, and you’ll get to say you heard them here first.
We Are Deadbeats Vol. 7 is out now on all platforms via Deadbeats.
