A dusty hiphop track I'd like feedback on

I like it. I don't think it's too wonky overall - it kind of falls apart for a second and then pulls back together, which is cool. That hihat, though, sounds off. Maybe it's just a bit too lazy behind the snare. As far as the bass goes, aside from compression you might want to emphasize the top end a bit - try running a send to a new track with all the low end EQed out, then distort that and blend it back in. Maybe add JS Tonegate to the original to generate a sub around 50 hz. The kick needs some work too, but the same principle applies - add more highs to thicken it up and add some lows to rattle the woofers. I turned this up loud and it barely registered on my subs. I agree that it could use a little more color too - some chopped up samples or weird sound effects, a high piano or xylophone or something to add some interest in the high end, maybe a few pauses or chops. Drop out a drum measure or two; it'll add weight when everything comes back in. I like though, keep playing with it.

Swamp, can you say a little more about using that tonegate effect? I've never heard of this technique of extracting subbass from a signal and the control scheme is unfamiliar to me. i'm always interested in bass tips...

I just add it at the end of an fx chain for bass or kick. You can pick a frequency to trigger (I usually use 50hz for kick and 150 hz for bass, or vice versa) and a wave shape - sine, square, or noise, which you can mix in at whatever level you want. The audio triggers the tone, so you get an extra knock at the desired frequency whenever the instrument sounds. It doesn't work as well on complex bass lines, but kicks and drops really benefit from it. I don't have Reaper open to be more specific, but it's a quick and dirty way to get some extra low end. Just play with it, it's easy.

Ah nice, that seems like a less roundabout way of what I was doing, which was duplicating the track and adding reasynth. Only works on midid tracks, but I never thought to try that for kick either. Cool.