Pass The AUX is a series by Francesco Lupinacci that works towards presenting a critical analysis of a variation of music artists & albums that lay beneath the polluted mainstream sound,to widen your playlists and give you a fire AUX selection.
As Odd Future began to dismantle mid 2015 after releases of Tyler, The Creator's Cherry Bomb and Earl Sweatshirt's I Don't Like Sh*t I Don't Go Outside, what would remain of some of the group's members became a mystery. While Domo Genesis set his footing with Genesis in 2016, it remained a mystery as to what would happen to a piece of Odd Future's biggest hit-single, "Rella". Hodgy Beats went on to diss OF's leader at 2015s Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival, marking his official departure from Tyler and all that he has built. Come December 2016, Hodgy Beats, now Hodgy, finally settles on his own mind-state over the course of his very uplifting rebirth on Fireplace: TheNotTheOtherSide.
Hodgy sets foot in the light ahead of his album release with Fireplace's leading single, "Barbell", a simplistic and hazy vocally sampled tune introducing properly everything Hodgy has in store as an artist. The remainder of the album feels much like a hair split "Barbell" in deep detail. Hodgy speaks to God, an unheard of concept during the very anti-samatic theorized concepts Odd Future had capitalized upon through their upcoming, truly marking his manner of shifting lanes for his own good. Returning from multiple tweets and songs indicating loneliness and depression, "Barbell" thrives on depicting Hodgy reaching the peace he direly needed.
Beyond "Barbell" lays "Resurrection", fueling the album's concept of rebirth and return. The hazy vocal production returns here as Hodgy comes clean to his higher being, asking forgiveness and confidence in all that he has done through the years. The track serves as a nice introspective conversation with God, and while Hodgy ends every line with the word "Lord", his internally integrated rhymes protect the seemingly repetitiveness of his statements. While he speaks out against his feelings towards the Lord's promises he unveils his frustrations with being misunderstood, addressed in the following track "They Want".
"They Want" portrays the harsh realities we face in common society, the expectations and the darkest obstacles. "Final Hour" and "Tape Beat" hold the prestigious features of Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes, allowing Hodgy to shine amongst some of hip hop's finest, and truly hitting the spotlight that his vocal uniqueness deserves alongside the industry's most iconic voices. The album's most stand-out track is titles "Glory", fusing the light tone and intricate schemes of Hodgy's rhyming capabilities.
For an artist that could have been left in the dark after lending such a helping hand to a group that stirred waves amongst a new school of rappers, Hodgy shines bright in Fireplace: TheNotTheOtherSide, properly reintroducing his own art under a different but happier light.
