Review: Us Natives’ Oddiology
Local production duo ILL Clinton and John E. Cab have joined forces as Us Natives to create a super-compilation of instrumental tracks crafted by beatmakers all over the country for Oddiology. No rappers, just beats and it’s pretty impressive.
Opening track “War Chant” by Expo is half lullaby (thanks to a Fiona Apple sample) and half dubstep tribal chant as the title suggests and definitely has a Kanye West “Power” vibe to it. HLX’s “Black/White Mute” sounds like something a Southern rapper would want to have screwed and chopped as an outro to a song or maybe even an interlude. The pace picks up with John E. Cab whose track “How Ya Been” is designed to suit the best of hard-hitting flows and the electric guitar solo brings some grit and genre-bending edge to the table. Hirass goes for drama and cinematic vibes with “Werewolf” which opens up quietly only to expand into intergalactic territory.
You could almost hear Eminem having a “Berzerk”-esque lyrical fit on Carl Kavorkian’s hard rock instrumental “Slap Dance Extravaganza”. Coldplay lovers will certainly enjoy “Ambitions of Ruling the World” which features a loop of Chris Martin singing “when I ruled the world” from the band’s hit “Viva la Vida”. The rest of the record turns to soul (Drone Jones’ “Trouble”) and even minimalist delivery suited for a Drake-like ( think “Successful” or “Pound Cake”) flow on Krooked Smilez’ “Somewhere Else”.
Overall, this compilation’s fresh and exciting instrumentals are indicative of the fact that the music can speak volumes alone even without a single word spoken or sung.