Protohype

Protohype, real name Max Hype, is one of bass music’s quiet grinders — a producer who’s been putting in work in the dubstep and bass scene for well over a decade without ever really chasing the spotlight. His catalog is deep, and his sound covers a lot of ground: heavy dubstep, hip-hop-leaning fusion, downtempo cuts, and straight-up experimental bass, all tied together into what he’s described as one cohesive sonic universe rather than a bunch of one-off singles.

The big statement piece in his catalog is “Open World,” his debut full-length album, which dropped in March 2020 through his own label, Underdog Records. It’s a seven-track project built around massive, cinematic soundscapes, and it pulled in collaborators like vocalist Charmae, who lent her voice to “Set Me Free” after already working with Protohype on Underdog’s debut single “Run Cried the Crawling,” plus rapper Born I on “What It Is” and producer Shlump on “Automatic.” The record showed Protohype wasn’t interested in staying in one lane — he wanted an album that moved through moods instead of just stacking drops.

Running Underdog Records has been just as much a part of his story as his own production. The label’s given him a platform to put out his own material on his own terms while also building a small ecosystem for other bass artists coming up alongside him. That do-it-yourself approach fits Protohype’s whole vibe — he’s never been the guy chasing festival mainstage slots for the sake of it, he’s been the guy in the studio, tinkering with sound design and pushing what heavy bass music can sound like when you slow down and actually build a world around it.

Protohype’s stayed a steady presence on the bass music touring circuit, keeping his name on lineups and continuing to put weight behind Underdog Records as a home for the sound he’s spent years refining. For fans who like their dubstep with a little more depth and a lot more low end, Protohype’s catalog is still one worth digging into.