“People want me to be a part of the race my peers participate in,” says Oddisee, cryptically, of new track ‘Belong To The World’. “When I realised I belonged to that and more, it was the more that excited me.” If the Washington rapper and producer’s career to date has taught us one thing, it’s that he isn’t one to simply run with the pack. Instead, the seven years since his sunny debut, 2008’s ‘101’, have seen a pretty fascinating series of left turns that, rather than chase the sort of stardom his smart flow and charisma on the mic seems tailor-made for, have quietly rebelled against rap norms. In 2012, he made a brief excursion into indie, retooling tracks by Metronomy, Grizzly Bear, Bon Iver and the like into skittering introspective hip-hop curios. Elsewhere, he’s released fizzing electro-jazz instrumentals, contemplated the social and spiritual cost of gentrification over booming bass on 2013 record ‘Tangible Dream’ and fucked thrillingly with soul samples on 2012’s ‘People Hear What They See’, an album that seethes at the “congressman and lawyers that congregate on the steps of the Supreme Court.”
Taken from upcoming album ‘The Good Fight,’ out May 4 on Mello Music Group, ‘Belong To The World’ is every bit as effortlessly lush as we’ve come to expect from the man, born Amir Mohamed el Khalifa, as he “walks around the city on my lonesome” happily contemplating his solitude: “never was the cool guy, never was the suave guy…” but that’s okay. UK dates are apparently on the horizon. In the meantime, check out the track below and let us know what you think.