A look at DJ Muggs' best beats in honor of his Wednesday night Low End Theory appearance

The roots of Flying Lotus, Gaslamp Killer and the rest of the Low End Theory crew are often glossed over in the rush to annoint them as vanguards of an avant-garde beat generation. Admittedly, the artists that frequent the weekly club at the Airliner in Lincoln Heights incorporate a vast array of influences, but their DNA reveals a hip-hop influence in spirit if not sound.

Accordingly, when Gaslamp, Nobody and Daddy Kev recently took over DJ Muggs' "Soul Assassins" radio show on Shade 45 (download link available here), Muggs and his co-host, the venerable local DJ Mr. Choc, spent much of the two-hour session praising their contemporaries for the way they've expanded the genre's aesthetic. So, consider Muggs' appearance Wednesday night at the Low End Theory both a co-sign from the legendary producer and a tacit nod at how much of an influence he's had on the last 20 years of production.