Makaya McCraven—Chicago drummer, producer and “beat scientist”—turns live improvisations into “organic beat music” via deep editing. Breakthrough In the Moment (2015) led to Universal Beings (2018), Gil Scott-Heron rework We’re New Again (2020), Blue Note’s Deciphering the Message (2021) and acclaimed In These Times (2022). In 2025 he’s issuing four EPs, collected as Off the Record.