“I go by the name of ODDISEE,” a deep voice with what sounded like a southern accent proclaimed over the mic. Of course, to any Canadian, a voice with that type of American drawl would be easily categorized under the big banner of “Southern Accent”, much like Canadians have an “accent” of politeness or “Eh”.  I soon stood corrected that this cadent voice was genuinely and authentically from the one and only Washington, DC.

From start to finish, I went from intrigue to mesmerized, to trying to tell my fatigued body I should head home early to rest, only to be sidetracked and charmed once again by Oddisee’s story told through his dynamic beats and thought-provoking rhymes. He tickled my ears with the sounds of soul, bass heavy funk, hip-hop, bossa nova and more. Leaving before his set was over soon became a non-existent option. Especially after Shad got invited up to perform an unreleased song with him.

I was hooked.

So much that post-show, I went up to talk to my friend Elijah who was one of the main organizers for this producer showcase known as The Beat Lounge. “Yo. How long is this guy in town for?” “Till Monday… You wanna interview him? I’ll introduce you.”

To be quite frank, I wasn’t even thinking too hard about trying to get an interview… straight up, I just wanted to hang with the dude. There was a realness about him that he exuded on stage that had me captivated. I just wanted to know What’s Good.

After a quick introduction to the six-foot-something producer/emcee, who, like a friendly giant, leaned over to look down at my 5-foot-nothing self, I soon got straight to the point and asked, “So you wanna hang out sometime this weekend?”

We exchanged numbers, and the following day, I found myself sitting down on some patchy green at Bellevue Park in Kensington, kickin’ it with Amir, better known as ODDISEE.

I was in semi-disbelief. One, I had just googled everything I could about the guy. I have to give it up to my Vancity homie though, a producer named Jolin Ras, who was the first to ever mention ODDISEE to me, and it came with the subtitle of, “One of my most FAVORITE producers right now.”

Post Youtube interviews and music videos, buying two albums off iTunes, and seeing that this man’s discography includes the likes of DJ Jazzy Jeff, Talib Kweli, Little Brother, Diamond District, so on and so forth, I soon came to questioning why in the heck was this guy not on Wikipedia?!

“Someone wrote about me and had it all wrong. Said I was from Baltimore. I had to delete it.” He explained to me matter-of-factly. I leaned back and observed his steady movements, arms loosely hugging his long legs crossed in front of his plain grey tee.

We sat and talked about everything – what it was like to grow up half-Sudanese, the insane amount of traveling he’s done, doing 2 tours to Europe every year — we talked about Malcom Gladwell and the book Outliers, and how he reached 10 thousand hours way before his current stance of 8 years of producing/emceeing.  We even talked about Toronto’s famous Backwards Ryder, and the craziest pamphlet promoting a life of never riding forwards again… and as the Universe would have it, who ended up biking (backwards) right past us? Yup. Backwards Ryder.

We walked through the market and grabbed empanadas and fruit and ice cream concoctions at El Gordo. It intrigued me to learn that he had previously come half an hour before he had to meet me in order to walk up and down Augusta and assess the situation. “I like to know what I’m getting myself into” He said, as he further explained that this was his protocol whenever visiting uncharted territories. I appreciated his meticulous approach; it was a quality about him that made perfect sense, especially after hearing the music he creates. His songs are so well crafted and thought out, appearing and sounding effortless.

We played with our Canon Rebel T2i’s and snapped a few flicks at the developing Trash Art exhibit done by my friend Josh and his counterparts from Whipper Snapper. Oddisee’s calm energy and easy-going attitude was a presence I felt so comfortable to be around. For a man already well accomplished in being able to live and travel off of making music, not to mention all the names he’s worked with, there was a humility that kept him grounded, the kind that would make him say something like, “I wanna like my music cause it’s good, NOT just because I made it.”

ODDISEE, the appropriation of ODYSSEY, a journey, which is exactly the intent of his music – like Homer, Oddisee is telling the story through his beats and rhymes, and is taking people on a journey of their own interpretation and connection to his music.

Below is a short video we filmed in an obscure building with a sketchy elevator somewhere in the heart of Chinatown. It’s a verse from the song “Let It Go”, soon to be released on his first solo album, entirely produced, written, and featuring himself. Stay tuned! It’ll be released this coming November.

Blessings and Respect, Oddisee, for taking the time to cool out with a girl you literally met out of nowhere. Our energies will reconnect soon, bredren, and most likely in NYC. Keep doin’ what you do. Lovehard.