Things!

The breakdown at the end, mean.

Blizzard of ’14?

Winter Storm Pax (where do they get these names?) brought plenty of white (thank god) to the US East Coast. The main melody that comes to my head as I look outside, at the news and photos are the somber horns of Blizzard of 09. It captures the mood perfectly.

Fashionably Late = Politics As Usual?

doubt back coverI have been letting Oddisee’s The Beauty In All play through to end out most of my work days this week and I think I made a sample discovery. I believe Fashionably Late samples Jay-Z’s Politics As Usual.  The first 12 seconds of Politics As Usual is pulled, chopped and slowed a bit to go over the smooth groove Oddisee constructed. Check 0:54 thru 1:25-ish on Fashionably Late. Impressive as Politics As Usual has always been one of my favorite jams from that album because sounds in the sample. What do you think? Continue reading

Oddisee – Tangible Dream Mixtape Review

oddisee-tangible-dreamI live in a gentrified part of Brooklyn, I eat out several times a week, I travel the world sampling the best that cities across the globe have to offer. Do I live in a penthouse loft? Am I dinning in five stars restaurants? Can you only find me in the most exclusive areas? Do I own a jet? The answer to all the above is most certainly no. I’m just a regular man from Prince George’s county, Maryland that figured shit out. I discovered that I can make a career in an arena dominated by artists that sell false dreams. I realized that although the masses may not know of my body of work, it doesn’t take the whole world to have the world I want. Tangible Dream is a mix-tape dedicated to the deconstruction of our traditional ideas of success & shedding light on the possibility of a sustainable rap life. These rhymes were written in economy class seats, these beats were produced on long bus trips & these songs were recorded in airbnb apartments. All I want to do is make music for a living so that I can live to make music. The only dreams I’m interested in are the ones I can grasp. It just so happens that anything you want bad enough can be obtained. Perhaps the world may never know of my accomplishments but accomplishments they are nonetheless. -Oddisee

I didn’t see this one coming, an mixtape and instrumental cd? Nice. Lets have a look at the mixtape, Tangible Dream…. Continue reading

Oddisee – Own Appeal


New Odd and DOM albums on the same day, it’s gonna be a pleasant October for music! This song is from his upcoming mixtape “Tangible Dreams” which comes with his new instrumental album “The Beauty in All”.

What Albums Are We Looking Forward to Hearing For the Rest of the Year??


So I’m having trouble keeping up with what albums are due out for the rest of the year and when they come out. So I’m pretty much putting together this list as something to reference when I get ready to fiend for some new music. These are all of the albums that I can list right now and feel free to add to the list because lord knows my memory is not what it used to be. Album of the year lists will be interesting that’s for sure.
Clear Soul Forces – Gold PP7’s (September 17)
Drake – Nothing Was The Same (September 24)
Danny Brown – Old (September 30)
Vic Mensa – INNANETAPE (September 30)
DOM Kennedy – Get Home Safely (October 1)
Oddisee – The Beauty In All (including free mixtape “Tangible Dream) (October 1)
Nipsey Hussle – Crenshaw (October 8)
Black Milk – No Poison, No Paradise (October 15)
JMSN – †Pllajé† (November 5)
Gerald Walker – Target (Sometime this year)
Chuck Inglish – Converitbles (Maybe this year or maybe never)
Schoolboy Q – OxyMoron (shiiiit who knows)

Gentrification

kevGentrification is a beat from Kev Brown made and Oddisee happened to spit over back in the day. First time I heard it, i was consumed by the airy sample chops. The way its chopped is just amazing to me and even thought Oddisee ripped this joint speaking about gentrification in areas of DC where he was raised, Kev Brown’s beat owned the show. I cant find the instrumental but I did find it on Kev Brown’s Commentary Vol 2 where he talks about the beat making process and how the track came to be. Some pretty interesting stuff… Continue reading

Discovering Oddisee in Food Lion

flionThis is starting to become common for me – discovering sample in random stores. This particular time I was in Food Lion picking up some groceries when I heard some familiar notes over the speaker system in the store (these store songs are usually terrible) that I just knew I heard before. The track was too funky and my head is bobbing as I pushed the cart down the aisle. Think, think, think, think! My mind’s blank then the sound bite comes around again, I realize it has to be Curtis Mayfield and the sound I heard on an Oddisee instrumental album, Traveling Man. I Continue reading