At allindstrom.com, we are proud to bring you Oddisee’s exclusive interview with his track-by-track analysis of his latest album entitled Rock Creek Park. If you’ve been a fan or if you’re new to his work, this release is a testament to his creativity and penchant towards quality. Oddisee’s stock has been on the rise for several years.  This latest album is not simply an instrumental project as commonly seen nowadays with beats that may seem subpar or simply throwaway tracks that MCs passed on. Rock Creek Park highlights Oddisee’s approach to producing and pairs it with some well played and well placed live instrumentation. In other words, a “beat tape” this is not. With an iTunes Top 20 debut, fans are realizing that good music is out there and this release shows and proves that Hip Hop is alive and well in 2011 and beyond. With Oddisee dropping his “official” release later this year or at the top of 2012, Rock Creek Park is just a taste of what’s to come. In the meantime, we’ll let the producer himself explain it best.

1. Still Doing It [Feat. yU of Diamond District]

I knew I wanted to have at least one vocal feature on Rock Creek Park. I wanted the album to go in and out of genres but at its core I wanted it to be a Hip Hop record. You’ll notice that the first & last songs on the album are the most obvious Hip Hop tracks. I guess that was my way of saying that regardless of what direction I go in, I came in Hip Hop and I’ll end Hip Hop. yU has one of my favorite voices in Hip Hop, he was the perfect MC to capture that DMV swag I was looking for to make this track a local favorite. The bass line on this beat is my attempt at playing a similar line to a famous Bob James loop. Hint… classic Ghostface track used the actual loop. Slapped some congos in and swung them drums to give it that DC flavor.   The Blackbyrds let you know what we were up too; yU & I wanted to let you know we’re still rocking in the park.

2. Skipping Rocks

Second track in and surprise, bring out the jazzy vibe. Here’s what this album is really about, musicality and the fusion of samples and live instrumentation. Arrangement and order of an album is just as important as the tracks themselves. “Skipping Rocks” takes on the responsibility of setting the tone of Rock Creek Park.  The piano line is meant to give the listener a nostalgic feel & the guitar played by Martin McDonald was done to make you feel as if you’re daydreaming. There’s nothing like strings and brass to interject emotion into music. Bitter sweet, triumphant, reminiscent…All words I used to describe what I was looking for to the musicians.

3. The Carter Barron

Here comes another reminder that this is a Hip Hop record. The Carter Barron is an amphitheater located within Rock Creek Park. I haven’t seen any Hip Hop shows there but if there were to be, what would it sound like? This is the track that I wanted to inspire MC’s to rhyme on but second guess. I suppose the Carter Barron is my Carnegie Hall. If I was ever to perform there to a sold out Washingtonian crowd, I’d feel like my practice paid off and that I could make it anywhere. (Anywhere within the 495 beltway)  I brought Jon Laine in to at rolling overhead drums to give it a live feel. Dennis Turner did exactly what I wanted him to do with the bass, make it roll! Ralph Real sealed the deal by adding amazing piano chords and lines: definitely one of my favorite tracks on the album.

4. Scenic Route To You

This just sound like some ol’ back road creeping type music to me. If you just came from my sold out show at the Carter Barron and were on your way home or to a jump off’s house this would be the song coming out your car stereo. My friends and I will often take Rock Creek Park to avoid traffic and police. Even when it’s not the fastest way to get where we’re going it’s the most scenic. The drum pattern and bass make me feel like I have more than enough time even when I’m running late. This is the type of music I like to ride to; the piano is cracking the windows, the guitar is turning up the speakers and the chorus is pure motion. If you listen closely to the horns at the beginning of the second verse, I EQ’d them to sound like a car horn passing by: true cruising music.

5. All Along The River

The Anacostia and Potomac are the rivers that run to the east & the west of DC & divide it from Maryland and Virginia. I wanted this track to flow like the rivers and the roads that run along side them. The drums take the fast lane and the flute takes the slow lane, the synth is that car moving in and out of lanes. One of Ralph Real’s favorite things to do over my beats is add a lead. He won’t tell you this but he’s a 90′s R&B producer who got a hold of a time machine and came to the future to tell us that leads are still important. I wanted a Bobby Humphrey’s feel to this track as I definitely was inspired by the vibe of “Harlem River Drive” for this track.

6. Uptown Cabaret

I was worried I wasn’t going to be able to fit an upbeat, dance-oriented track on this album. I didn’t want it to seem too obvious like… “and now I give you dance!” Once again going back to the historical context of this album, cabarets were my way in. A Cabaret is an upscale, dress to impress type of party that was common in DC, points south and, from what I hear, the Mid-West and West Coast as well. This track is meant to make you dance so hard you spill barbecue sauce on your all white linen outfit at the cook out.  I used a bit reducer on the bass line and brought that thing down to 8 bit. Boogie meets Atari.

7. Beach Drive

Beach Drive is often the road I take through the park to get from uptown to Silver Spring, Maryland, usually on my way to Parkway Deli (Try the Reuben there, it’s banging! Best Deli outside of NY).  It’s a beautiful long, tree line road where in my opinion the creek is at it’s most beautiful. Once again Dennis Turner is on the live bass and Ralph Real is on keys. To me this is the most beautiful track on the album. The guitar plucks played by Martin McDonald are meant to be having a conversation with one another. If you listen in head phones you can hear the panning in them. Simple chit-chat in route to one of my favorite spots.

8. Clara Barton

I haven’t met a young lady yet that doesn’t like the drive to Great Falls, MD. Clara Barton Parkway is an offshoot of RCP (Rock Creek Park) and it’s the way I take when I’m going from Georgetown to parts of Montgomery County, MD.  Nothing is better than a nice day, a beautiful lady in the passenger seat and driving with no particular destination in mind. I wanted this track to say that.  This was one of the last tracks I worked on for this record. I was waiting on the amazing Lucan Pipkin’s schedule to open up to record the strings that come in on the hook. Lucan plays strings on the majority of my beats and we make a great team. Her husband Tom Pipkin, plays percussion on my work as well. Listening back to this track, I should have added him on live congo instead of sampling them. Might be time for a remix.  This was another track I used to remind listeners that this was still in fact a Hip Hop album. I’ve already written something to this track, might just release it.

9. Mattered Much Instrumental

Fact, this track was not made for RCP. After putting together 9 songs for the album, I went back in hard drive, dug this song up and realized it was made for RCP. I’m really proud of the drum programming on this track, it took me a long ass time to program all those rolls. The guitars played by Andy Faus give it such a grimy feel while Lucan’s strings polish the track. Definitely a track produced by the ’96 Reasonable Doubt in me, meeting up with the 4Hero in me. There is a vocal version of this track I’m sure you’ll hear soon.

10. Closed After Dark

The titled says it all! No live horns on this, no leads, no fender, just a beat break & a chopped up sample. I wanted people to see that there is still a place in the world for good ol’ fashioned Hip Hop. When it’s all said and done, this is where my heart is. My Diamond District brothers (XO & yU) and myself have already written & recorded to this track. Definitely sounds like a missing track from our first album In The Ruff.

The album runs the full gambit of musical taste, it’s everything I’d want to hear in the park in any scenario. I’m sure these tracks evoke different feelings from different people. At the root of it, I guess, I’m still making music for the way it makes me feel. Good to know that being selfish isn’t always a bad thing.

Chris Moss

 

Rock Creek Park  @ itunes
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/rock-creek-park/id445420111

Rock Creek Park on CD
http://www.undergroundhiphop.com/Oddisee-Rock-Creek-Park/MMG018CD/

Rock Creek Park on Vinyl
http://www.undergroundhiphop.com/Oddisee-Rock-Creek-Park/MMG018LP/

 

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