Heard It Here First

Nearly two years ago to the day, the dubstep community and greater electronic music world lost one of its most legendary figures in Tony Cook, better known as Cookie Monsta. Many of us remember Cookie Monsta as one of the leading pioneers for dubstep, an otherworldly music producer that was ahead of his time, and above all else, a beautiful soul to be around.

Today, on HeardItHereFirst, we bring you a rare, posthumous release courtesy of Circus Records that features the aforementioned Cookie Monsta, label boss Flux Pavilion, and fellow Circus favorite KOVEN. “I’m Delighted” is out now on all platforms, with all royalties for the song going to Oliver Cook, the son of the late dubstep hero.

When Cookie Monsta was just a child, he was first introduced to music production via Music 2000, a studio simulator game that allowed anyone to create music with videos to go along with the songs that were created. This interest followed him to college, where he picked up Reason software and took music more seriously, eventually leading to the creation of the Cookie Monsta moniker and an incredible music career that followed.

One of Cookie Monsta’s earliest influences included Rusko. This inspiration eventually led to Cookie Monsta developing his own sound and style that caught the attention of fellow dubstep icon Flux Pavilion. From there, it did not take long for Cookie Monsta to get well-acclimated with the Circus Records family, releasing one of dubstep’s most memorable tracks, “Ginger Pubes”.

In the years that would follow, Cookie Monsta continued to revolutionize dubstep and the bass music community as a whole. His heavy, yet approachable style made him a favorite of old heads and newcomers, alike. The admiration felt throughout the community helped Cookie Monsta reach new audiences, eventually touring with Excision as part of The Paradox tour in 2017, as well as several tours with Circus Records family members like Doctor P and FuntCase.

There are not enough words to truly capture the impact that Cookie Monsta made on dubstep and electronic music. The track we are featuring today is an incredibly touching way to carry on the legacy he has left behind.

“I’m Delighted”

“I’m Delighted” is a nearly-six-minute cinematic masterpiece that allows the listener to embark on an emotional journey, fusing heavenly atmospheres and vocals from KOVEN with darker, deep elements of analog bass music. This track is a journey, highlighting the ups and downs we face in life; powerful buildups that eventually lead to a stunning release of emotion. Cookie Monsta had been very vocal about the mental health struggles he had been facing in his later years, in which he actually ended up canceling the rest of his 2019 tour. Katie from KOVEN wrote the lyrics to “I’m Delighted” with Tony’s struggles in mind, and when she and Max (the second member of KOVEN) sent back the demo, she described just how much it meant to Tony.

Tracks such as this one remind us as fans that the artists we admire and look up to are more than the one-dimensional. genre-specific figures we know and love. The way these artists came together to create such a powerful display of art is inspiring, helping us all cope with what was been a long two years since Tony’s passing.

Here’s what Flux Pavilion and KOVEN had to say about this emotional, new single:

“Tony loved cinematic music and always wanted to write it, that was the concept behind this record. He had been struggling with writing, so I was like ‘what do you want to do, let’s just do that.’ The craziest thing for me is the emotion, when Katie sent that vocal, both Tony and I were blown away. Then to come back and work on it posthumously, it became an incredibly deep and meaningful process for Katie, Max and myself. Shortly before he passed away, the last text Tony sent me was replying about this track, he said ‘gorgeous, analog as fuck.’ When we came back to finishing the song, that was all the guidance we needed to finish it off the way he would have wanted.” – Flux Pavilion

“This project has been very emotional and special to us. Since this track was originally started as a collaboration with Flux and Cookie, then Flux came to us with the idea of finishing the track as a tribute to Tony, we were very touched. We are honoured to have worked on this track in his memory.” – KOVEN

What did you think of “I’m Delighted” by Cookie Monsta, Flux Pavilion and KOVEN? Let us know in the comments below or on our social media!

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