I first heard of Reservoir Sound in 2011 while in grad school. My DJ, Samurai Banana, put me onto Super Chron Flight Brothers a couple years before, and we continued to follow billy woods and Backwoodz affiliates once we moved to the city. That year, MC Eleven threw a release party on 11/11/11, the Elevenocalypse, where he and ten other acts performed in rapid fire succession throughout the night. I was a amazed at the quality and originality of each act, and finally felt at home in the gritty, dank basement of the now closed Southpaw.

As I dug deeper into these acts, I noticed the link between nearly all of them was one producer - A.M. Breakups, Reservoir Sound’s curator. He provided most of the production for the collective, and some for their larger circle as well. Eventually, Breakups and I shared a stage at the Bowery Poetry club, and once we had a mutual interest in collaborating, I was invited to the Reservoir Sound Womb in Bed-Stuy.

There were so many artists in and out of the 924 Myrtle that day, I couldn’t keep track. We sat around his kitchen table, chain smoking, drawing and listening to his roommate, Jeff Markey, pick apart samples in the next room. The Womb was just that— a space to create and allow ideas to gestate. Breakups was at the center of it, watching these projects grow, guiding them into the world.

This four part collection of instrumentals takes us through A.M. Breakups’ history as a collaborator, stripping the vocals from the songs to focus on the intricate, moving rhythms. Each of these songs tells a story on its own, speaking from Breakups’ complexly creative intellect, emoting from his depths. Take a moment to stroll through the architecture of A.M. Breakups’ mind.

-Lieutenant Headtrip, Karma Kids NYC



This is a compilation of songs produced by A.M. Breakups, now for the first time in their instrumental form.

Artwork by Laura A. Serman.

01. Surface Tension Beekeepers feat. V8 “A Rustic Room with Sweet Smells of a Boiled Dinner”
02. PremRock feat. Cavalier “Nothing (Remix)””
03. Cult Favorite feat. Teddy Faley “Walking Wounded”
04. Hype Wonder “Exist”
05. MC Eleven “Mother Earth”
06. Super Chron Flight Brothers feat. Lord Superb, Pastense & HiCoup “42nd Street (Remix)”
07. A.M. Breakups feat. Uncommon Nasa “King of the Hill”
08. Teddy Faley & MC Eleven “Krokodil (Determined)”
09. A.M. Breakups feat. Model Citizen & MC Eleven “Third Neon Out”
10. Shape “In Closing (Remix)”