On the Droogie Otis track "Everything Designer," Your Old Droog and Boldy James put a dust-damaged prog-rock sample laid out by Madlib in a chokehold. As the beat-making half of the Droogie Otis duo, Madlib really drags the fuzz-caked needle of his turntable through the smoke on this one. Muddy bass notes and barely-there drums crackle in stereo. There's no modern-day glitz carrying the body. Just buzzy amps, guitar twangs, and his partner Droog talking slick as he welcomes us to the show.
His NYC drawl cutting sideways, Droog starts "I gotta keep it hot end, my friend, everything designer/ From the line up to the jacket word to 'mima." But it doesn't feel like he's talking about high-end tags and seams. More like vibe alignments, fresh fades, and sources of income. Instead of name-dropping Balenciaga, the Yodfather uses his bars to shout out Jimi Hendrix and Jane Fonda, clown old classmates, and chuck his trauma beneath six feet of soil. His chest-deep timbre and confident spill never miss a beat, even though he rhymes as if every line popped into his mind a half-second before he started spitting.
Boldy James enters next without a knock – voice low and gravel wrapped. In his signature style, he never raises his voice above a conversational level, but it rattles out the speaker all the same. Lines like “Didn’t have much of a childhood, held in a court of honor/ Grew up sleeping in crack spots, I never wore pajamas.” hum with an ease and a threat in equal measure.
"Everything Designer" feels less like a world premiere rollout and more like someone hit record on a freestyle break and caught lighting in a bottle. And if this is a warm-up to an upcoming Droogie Otis full-length, we all might want to clear some shelf space in our go-to playlists.
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