Dance Up-And-Comer of the Month BrokinPaper Made Music Inspired By Gesaffelstein — Then Gucci Called
Categoria: Musica
The New York-based producer's new album, Function Over Form, is out today, Sept. 9.
Por Billboard | 09/09/2026
On an overnight flight from New York City to Berlin, Harrison Lee knew he was doing something right, even as he spent the entire eight-hour flight meticulously piecing together his set. The NYC-based producer — who makes electronic music as BrokinPaper — had been recruited by Gucci to play the afterparty of a May event by the luxe fashion brand. When he arrived in the German capital, there was even an all-Gucci outfit to wear during his set waiting for him in the hotel room. His performance was a hit, with his brooding, sharp-edged productions being a perfect fit for the ever-cool and always sexy fashion house. The night went so well, in fact, that two weeks later he was DJing another Gucci event in Times Square, playing techno informed by his time in Berlin. Images of his face were even flashed on a few of the location’s iconic digital billboards during the event , which followed a fashion show the first cruise collection by Gucci creative director Demna. It was a high fashion, high glitz, high stakes room packed with celebrities, and BrokinPaper was the one making them dance. “Being born and raised in New York City, it was just so crazy,” he says. “I’ve been here my entire life, and then this was happening.” These moments are two of the latest peaks in a career BrokinPaper has been working at since he was a teenager in a metal band called Broken Paper Wings. When that group didn’t pan out, he knew he still wanted to make music, deciding a solo venture might be easier. This was circa 2010, when Skrillex was ascending to the apex of the electronic music ecosystem. Watching this rise, it dawned on Lee that producing electronic music might be his path not just into the dance world, but in becoming a producer that’s called upon by artists from other genres. “I started producing dubstep, house, and a bunch of different things just as an experiment,” he says. This experiment persisted while he immersed himself further in the online and in IRL New York. He was especially drawn to the music of Boys Noize and Gesaffelstein , both pioneering producers whose work lands in the heavier, harder sector of the vast electronic music spectrum and who’ve collaborated with acts including Nine Inch Nails, Ye and Lady Gaga. “Gesaffelstein’s ‘Rocket Number 9’ remix just started playing on YouTube,” BrokinPaper recalls of his first time hearing the French artist. “I was like, ‘This is incredible.’ It’s electronic music, but I feel like it spans across different genres, which I think is a big reason an artist like Kanye reached out to him to work together. That’s another reason why I gravitated towards his style of electronic music, because it’s electronic, but it has a draw where people who enjoy music outside of electronic can also enjoy it. I really wanted to make music similar in that way.” Related ‘Something Very Simple, Bu