2 Mello

All it took was his first time hearing a breakbeat in A Tribe Called Quest’s “Scenario” as a kid for 2 Mello to become obsessed with drum breaks and sound samples. From that point on, he was on a mission to find out how such cohesive music collages were formed and how he could start making them himself.

Starting in 2001, 2 Mello freely explored the genres of breakbeat, drum ‘n’ bass and hip-hop, working with local artists in his hometown of Lexington, Kentucky, and polishing his beat skills. He caught wide attention online in 2013, with a series of viral mashup albums combining video game music and classic hip-hop. That year, he worked as a composer for multiple commercial video games and started his three-entry “midnight broadcasts” series of instrumental hip-hop albums.

In 2015, 2 Mello began developing a new style combining all of his influences thus far: warm, soulful hip-hop textures, catchy vocals, the syncopated rhythms of breakbeat, and the unstoppable energy of drum ‘n’ bass. 2 Mello debut this hyper-detailed, catchy, electronic sound in the Jet Set Radio-inspired release Memories of Tokyo-To (2018). The year 2018 in particular established 2 Mello as a prolific solo artist to a new audience, with three more LP releases in the same year as Memories Of Tokyo-To that built on that album’s energy. A sequel album, Sounds Of Tokyo-To Future, arrived in 2021. All while, he increased the number of game composition credits under his belt with a contribution to the game Celeste (2018), full scoring duties on Later Alligator (2019), and a split score with composer Eli Rainsberry on If Found… (2020).

In the 2020s, 2 Mello freely explored his favorite sounds further with hip-hop albums Summer In Silent Places (2020), SEEK your SOUND (a collaboration with MILLION SUNDAY), and the 27-track summery instrumental epic Sunsound Collisions (2024). He has also maintained his high-energy electronic releases with this year I lose my mind (2022) and PHD - PORTABLE HEADPHONE DANCEFLOOR (2023). His current solo project is a four-part series bringing together an eclectic variety of previously unreleased tracks titled rhythm pools, with the first installment 01 - naissance released in March 2026. 2 Mello also continues to work on game soundtracks, composing for Bop-It! The Video Game (2025), appearing in UNBEATABLE (2025), and co-composing Demon Tides (Feb 2026) with Fat Bard. He is the audio director for the game studio Virtuoso Neomedia, contributing to several games like SantaCorps 4 (2026), Virtuoso Skins Classic (2026), and Zodiac XX: Leo (TBA).

2 Mello currently resides in Chicago, Illinois with his two cats, several synthesizers, and oversized Godzilla kaiju figurines.