As both a genre and a culture, hip-hop can be generally divided into two camps: There are the flashy, materialistic, often misogynistic artists you hear on commercial radio who sell records in ridiculous amounts, and the introspective, socially conscious artists who are solely accountable to themselves for staying relevant.
Since 2009, Oddisee has firmly been in the latter camp, having released a near-constant stream of albums and EPs to a loyal but small corps of fans worldwide. As one-third of Washington, DC, collective Diamond District, along with yU and Uptown XO, Oddisee was celebrated for his mic skills as much as his ability behind the board as a producer and multi-instrumentalist. But despite his talent and prolificacy—and high-profile collaborations with the likes of DJ Jazzy Jeff, J. Cole, and Kendrick Lamar—Oddisee remains stubbornly underground. The Good Fight, his eighth studio album (not including mixtapes and EPs) is his biggest attempt yet to cross the miles-wide divide that separates obscurity from relevance. That sense of urgency—both artistic and cultural—is palpable throughout the album.
From a tour stop in Minneapolis, Oddisee remembers exactly how the album took shape. "I started it on the 27 of November [2014], worked through December, and on January 13 I turned the record in," he says. "I wrote, recorded, and produced this record in a very short amount of time. In order to do that I had to just stay home and write."
Born Amir Mohamed el Khalifa to a Sudanese father and African American mother in Prince George's County, Maryland, Oddisee was raised in DC, where he and Diamond District began making their mark on the local hip-hop scene. For strategic reasons, Oddisee relocated to Brooklyn five years ago, but he hasn't let his adopted home alter his distinctive sound.
"My music has never really been truly affected by my place of residence, or where I get my mail, so to speak," Oddisee says. "My inspiration comes from everything around me."
