But like the reach of city pipelines, the undercurrent to Guillermo Scott Herren’s music unequivocally has got that ole’ boom bap, naturally folding him into the wide blanket of hip hop. “I’ll always be an advocate for hip hop,” says Herren. Some would say his contribution to hip hop is a mutation, others, an evolution.

“The United States is egotistical in that there seems to be a bubble around it, there is little to no concern for international politics.”

The sense of Prefuse’s personal evolution comes across with the release of the most recent album, Security Screenings. With radio dial tunings and a new set of sounds and samples over the typical MPC vocal hop scotch, Security Screenings is still chock full of the signature Prefuse stylings. Not as much as of an attention getter as previous releases, the album delivers a maturity and growth from where Surrounded by Silence left off. Attention to further layerings, sequencing, and melodies seem to hold more of the focus for “Security Screenings”, so don’t expect any smack-in-the-face bangers — otherwise the album will be sure to disappoint.

“I never wanted anybody to think that it was on some pretentious vibe like ‘I’ve gone through hell traveling this year!’ It’s more of an acknowledgment of how ridiculous things have gotten,” says Herren in response to the title of the new album.

As political as a producer can get on an album without many (coherent) words, some of the orchestral arrangements to slower boom bap backdrops certainly paint the visual picture of teeth-grinding frustration at the current state of affairs. With long lines waiting to cycle through metal detectors, smelling stank feet as people remove their shoes, to verifying photo ID at every check point along the way, Security Screenings could certainly play as the theme music. The point is, political messages are hard to portray — even to the most instrumentally adept person — merely with beats as opposed to plainly voiced views.

Contrary to the stereotype of a producer (locked in a dark hovel, pounding away into a stratosphere of sound with the outside world shut off), when discussing politics with Herren, it is clear the beatsmith’s views are thought out and well informed. “The United States is egotistical in that there seems to be a bubble around it, there is little to no concern for international politics,” explains Herren. An American citizen himself, Herren gets passionate when talking about politics, particularly in Latin America due to his Spanish, Catalan, and Portuguese descent.

“It’s funny too, because all the cats back in the States who never were feeling Prefuse suddenly popped up and were like ‘Yo, I heard that Spanish shit you did… I dig it.’”

It was his ethnic background that drew Herren to take up residence in Spain in 2002. “Family was a big draw,” he says. “I was sort of idealistic about it, but I was intrigued to find out more about myself through the roots, family and culture over there.” During the ensuing years of his time in Barcelona, he linked up with Catalan singer, Eva Puyuelo Muns and took her under the wing of the Savath & Savalas project Herren started in 2000 with the release of Folk Songs for Trains, Trees, and Honey.

“Doing Savath and Savalas over there, more doors were being opened for me mentally,” states Herren. “It’s funny too, because all the cats back in the States who never were feeling Prefuse suddenly popped up and were like ‘Yo, I heard that Spanish shit you did… I dig it.’” Anticipation has been building around the next release of another Savath & Savalas album, which Herren guarantees is coming — though the wait may be a while. While Herren still has a pillow to rest his head on in Barcelona, which is not nearly as often as he’d like, he spends his time on the road with New York as home base.

For any serious Herren fans, another tasty treat not to be slept on is one of his more obscure releases put out under his full name, Guillermo Scott Herren, titled Sleeping In On Saturday and Sunday. This is one certainly to be sought after by those who can appreciate the subtler, relaxed Savath & Savalas recordings. Aptly titled, this body of work is nearly completely absent of all drums, leaving only soothing sampled textures with just the right amount of digitally chopped up, stuttering rhythms. Herren himself was even surprised to hear it brought up in conversation as he explained, “I put that together to make some money on a tour I wasn’t making money on! There were maybe fifty copies total I made and each one I had done original art work for the cover. If anyone’s got one, I’d hold on to that.”

Sleeping In On Saturday and Sunday is merely a hint at how busy this guy has been over the years since he has hit the scene. It is hard to keep track of the countless side projects and different monikers Herren has worked on such as Savath & Savalas, Delarosa, not to mention Piano Overlord and La Correccion to name a few. Eastern Development, Herren’s own independently-run record label, boasts a number of talented and interesting artists, some of which are hard to be certain of whether they are further creative side project outlets or legitimate, real life musicians.

To put it mildly, his discography of admitted contributions is impressive with the various collaborations and remixes he has done over the past few years. Now, with another long-playing album from Prefuse 73 on its way, featuring a collaboration with Tyondai Braxton, we shall see what Herren has to offer next… (deep breath) Electronica? Experimental? Downbeat? Broken beat? Avant hip hop? Inde hip hop? Glitch hop? Digi hop? Trip hop? Blip hop? Pop hop?