This week Odie blesses us with the most bone chilling of soul cuts, that gives us goosebumps on even the finest of summer days. The song starts off mellow, but don't be fooled, this banger is anything but basic. EARMILK got the pleasure of chopping it up with the man himself; giving us a glimpse inside his mind's eye, a taste of his heavy Nigerian gospel influence and a bite out of his reverse creative process with "Catch Up".
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The track, co produced by Ya’qob, starts with an airy vocal chant and a deep-badass-full-bodied-dirty-bass line, but then continues to build-adding different rhythmic elements by the next note. Unlike many artists in the game right now, the Montreal born (Toronto raised) artist doesn't need much else to carry his voice. Homie's melodic cadence is an instrument in itself. Odie told us the stages of the song represent the stages of growth within his life. Utilizing a girl as his metaphorical muse, Odie says this growth is not only represented through the build up of the production, but within the lyrical content as well.
"So I start off unsure, then get a bit overconfident and by the end of the song I’m just like fuck it, imma do my thang regardless of whether she’s with me or not. If she's there, she's got to be on my same level. Hence the "catch up". The last verse is me speaking from her point of view."
Singing in perfect harmoney (no that's not a typo; yes it's that rich of a harmonic matrimony), is Bryce Aevry. The two met on our favorite online dating website for collabs worldwide, SoundCloud.
"For this song, I put a choir and then I added the really cool synth base. Got the rhythm down & then sent to Bryce and he did his thing over it. And I was like yo that's dope we gotta put this on the track"
The last verse has some of my favorite lyrics on the whole cut. The notion that feels are always out of your control, being comfortable in this vulnerability and moving in a relentless forward motion. Cause in the end? You have to do you before you can do two. He sings, "I'll take the time witcha, let me do the crime witcha, parlay my mind even if I'm horrified, I'll take the fall wiitcha baby let me ball witcha, I'll share my all witcha even if it's fortified." I MEAN, HAVE YOU EVER READ ANYTHING SO BEAUTIFUL?!
Odie described the unique creative process of curating a sound for "Catch Up" along with his usual rhyme & reason behind his sound.
"I try and capture the feeling of the song when I build music and by the way I produce. The beginning is all mellow and smooth, but I wanted there to be something epic in the song. Usually when I write, I go however I feel, and then create the story after. I speak gibberish first and then the story comes later. Essentially the lyrical portion of the song after the cadence and flow is created."
Odie really harnesses his vibe from his soul. Whether he is spitting or singing, he'll do whatever the rhythm calls for. As for influences, he tells us that his background as the son of two Nigerian immigrants is deep rooted in his sound. Since his style is so unique, I was beyond curious to dig deeper into his influences. Listing Nigerian gospel at the top; our two favorite break up artists fall in second and third place.
"My biggest influence soundscape wise is Coldplay. One of the things I really love about them is the fact that every single song captures an emotion and a moment in time perfectly. I’m huge on composition, I want to make sure everything sounds full and perfect, I don’t want to have an empty spot in my track.
But rapping wise-Kid Cudi, I love his cadence and the simplicity in his rap. However, the biggest one for sure is African gospel. That’s where my cadence comes from and my beat influence."
And we can't forget one of the founding fathers. OG Kanye. NOT Yeezus. We're talking albums like 808s & Dark Twisted Fantasy. But right now Odie is listening to Jai Paul & Jeremih Gangsta Grillz mixtape on repeat.
Keep an eye out for this artist on the rise-I'm calling it-homie's bout to Godfather this sound.
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