Nakura Masterfully Captures the Spirit of Happy Hardcore

Nakura makes their Paradigm Shift debut with an original guest mix that showcases their invaluable knowledge of happy hardcore!

American Hard Dance is known for the eclectic sounds and mixing of genres to create hybrid records, while some producers have tried to emulate the sounds of European hard dance. It’s challenging to replicate the sounds of hard dance in Europe, but a few artists have successfully matched the quality of music in their records. One who has masterfully captured the energy of pure happy hardcore is none other than California native, Nakura.

With over 14 years of experience, Nakura has experimented with many different sounds and genres ranging from trance to hard dance, but they have found their calling within happy hardcore, the style they hold close to their heart. Their love for the genre can be attributed to the unique qualities of the style, such as the ability to have a beautiful breakdown like a trance song, but then have an aggressive kick drum at a high tempo during the drop.

“I heard my first happy hardcore track, which was Brisk & Ham’s “Angel Eyes.” I had never heard anything like it before. It was so energetic; so melodic; so euphoric,” Nakura said while reminiscing about the beginning of their producing career. “After that, I discovered the Bonkers compilation series and was hooked. I knew I had to try making happy hardcore myself. I came up with the Nakura alias and have been making it myself ever since.”

I think that the Vengeance 185 kick drum era (2007 to 2012) sound of happy hardcore might come back into fashion. Not so much that specific kick drum, but the melodies and songwriting from back then. I think people might start feeling nostalgic for that sound again soon.
Nakura

Luckily for Nakura and many others, happy hardcore has re-emerged into the relative mainstream through producers such as Darren Styles, Tweekacore, Kutski, and others who are holding down the scene and giving it major platforms to shine on. Looking to keep the spirit of happy hardcore alive and contribute their part, Nakura stopped by today to spin up a completely original guest mix on their Paradigm Shift debut.

Throughout this mix, listeners go on a journey of discovering gems throughout Nakura’s lengthy discography, like the Infinity Mix of “Shooting Star Lullaby,” which was released to celebrate the inception of Nakura’s record label, Audio Vitamin. Almost every record on this mix has a special story, and “Everytime” is no exception. Nakura made this record for the Orbit 18 compilation on Novatone and said, “The money they make off the compilations goes to charity, and I’m really proud to have a track on one.”

In addition to their latest records, Nakura acknowledged their past and included tunes like “Hey U Guys,” which was released on Future State Music in 2017. The rest of the mix is jam-packed with the highest quality records that Nakura has created, so crank up the volume and enter the mind of this veteran producer!

I like almost all forms of hard dance music, or any subgenre of electronic music for that matter. My favorite, however, is happy hardcore. So many tracks from this subgenre give me a euphoric feeling that no other style of music really can. To me, my music encapsulates so many things. If I was to quantify it, I would say I try to make energetic and emotional music with expressive melodies.
Nakura