The Iceberg
Parts of Oddisee’s latest confront Trump’s America: “How you gonna make us great when we were never really all that amazing?” But the DC rapper sees little renewed cause for concern: “I’m from black America/This is just another year,” he raps on “NNGE”. Not that the familiarity of oppression blunts his fight. Over funky, soulful tracks, he addresses the sexism (“Hold It Back”) and police brutality (“You Grew Up”) that stifle his simple hope: “I just wanna be free.”
The prolific MC, producer and musician Oddisee’s new album ‘The Iceberg’ is a plea for humanity to dig deeper in search of understanding and common ground. His third release in just 12 months, ‘The Iceberg’ is a distillation of stereotypical tropes in hip-hop and beyond, 12 tracks about money, sex, politics, race and religion that appear superficial until his multi-dimensional lyrics unfurl to expose the complexities of individuality and identity: how we see ourselves and how others see us. Deeply soulful, and shot through with jazz, Go-go, gospel, thick r&b and hard beats, the album is a timely, poetic statement. ‘The Iceberg’ is out February 24 on Mello Music Group. Lead single “Things” acts as a mission statement for the album, a deep dance groove with lightning-quick lyrics about “things” he’s going through. Says Oddisee, “"We all go through the trials & tribulations of life. Why is it we feel the need to individualize our shared experiences? If only we could see our concerns as others do, maybe they wouldn't be so serious." Oddisee World Tour March 2 – Paris, France – La Place March 3 – Lyon, France – Bizarre! March 4 – Nantes, France – Stereolux March 6 – Bristol, UK – The Lantern March 8 – Manchester, UK – Gorilla March 9 – Dublin, Ireland, The Sugar Bluc March 11 – London, UK – Islington Assembly Hall March 13 – Munich, Germany – Ampere March 14 – Erfurt, Germany – Franz Melhose March 15 – Berlin, Germany – Gretchen March 16 – Hamburg, Germany – Mojo Club March 17 – Cologne, Germany – Gloria March 18 – Stuttgart, Germany – Im Wizemann March 19 – Frankfurt, Germany – Zoom March 22 – Nijmegen, Netherlands – Doornroosje March 24 – Rotterdam, Netherlands – Bird March 25 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Paradiso March 26 – Brussels, Belgium – Ancienne Belgique March 30 - Milan, Italy - Biko Club April 7 - Sofia, Bulgaria - Sofia Live Club April 8 - Bucharest, Romania - Arenele Romane April 10 – Vienna, Austria – Grelle Forelle April 11 – Warsaw, Poland – Stodola April 18 – Philadelphia, PA – Theater of Living Arts April 20 – Washington, D.C. – 9:30 Club April 21 – Raleigh, NC – King’s Barcade April 23 – Atlanta, GA – The Loft April 26 – Houston, TX – Fitzgerald’s April 27 – Dallas, TX – Dada Dallas April 28 – Austin, TX – Empire Control Room May 1 – Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater May 5 – San Diego, CA – Music Box May 7 – San Francisco, CA – The Regency May 9 – Eugene, OR – WoW Hall May 10 – Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theatre May 11 – Seattle, WA – Neumos May 12 – Vancouver, BC – Biltmore Cabaret May 13 – Spokane, WA – The Big Dipper May 14 – Boise, ID – Neurolux May 17 – Omaha, NE – Slowdown May 18 – Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry May 19 – Milwaukee, WI – Shank Hall May 20 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall May 21 – Indianapolis, IN – The HiFi May 26 – Detroit, MI – Arab American National Museum May 27 – Toronto, ON – Lee’s Palace May 30 – Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall May 31 – New York, NY – Highline Ballroom
The latest from the D.C. rapper is a focused beam of live-band and hip-hop soul that rattles loudly in our present political moment.
As with every Oddisee record, The Iceberg adheres to a high concept; in this case he's taking aim at the tendency to accept surface-level information and forget about underlying complexities.
It's been almost a year since we heard a solo effort from DC rapper/producer Oddisee; in 2016 he dropped his Alwasta EP, then followed it up...