Pro Era rep, A La $ole teams up with Odd Future’s Domo Genesis for the somber and soulful, “Where I’m From.” The reflective track, which was produced by Jordan Granados showcases A La $ole and Domo Genesis’ lyrical ability, as they detail the harsh realities of living in the inner city. According to A La, “I want you guys to see and understand where Dom & I come from. Even though I’m in Brooklyn and Domo is from Cali, we have many similarities being the artists we are and the situations we’ve been through.” Check it out below.

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The Brooklyn collective, Flatbush Zombies bring us some new music with the release of “Plz Don’t Make Me Do It.” The Architect is responsible for the soulful backdrop that allow the all the artists to flow smoothly over. Domo Genesis comes through for a dope feature as well. Give it a listen here.

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After dropping the A$AP Twelvy assisted “Half-Time” the Flatbush Zombies are back with a smooth track “Plz Don’t Make Me Do It’ featuring Domo Genesis who reps for Odd Future. With production by The Architect their bars sound beautiful despite “Curse all you b***h n****s, cause I might hurt one of you b***h n****s.” The track is off their upcoming EP It’s All A Matter of Perspective, check out the fresh cut below.

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OFWGKTA member Hodgy Beats has remained under the radar these past few years as a solo artist but is making his comeback with the newly released mixtape Dena Tape 2 alongside Grammy Award-nominated producer Don Cannon. Released six years after Beats’s successful 2009 release The Dena Tape, the 12-track mixtape features collaborations with other Odd Future rappers and more, exposing Hodgy’s tight rhymes over equally well-produced tracks.

For the better part of the past five years, Hodgy has served as one half of MellowHype, the hip-hop duo consisting of fellow Odd Future member Left Brain and himself. Outside of that, the few bars he’s laid on a variety of tracks from Flying Lotus to Odd Future to Trash Talk have been sweet but short. However, Hodgy returns with full force, rapping on a majority of the album himself and delivering the quick and witty lyrics that he is known for. Other collaborators include OF rapper Domo Genesis and LA-based rapper Hit-Boy.

Peep at the mixtape below and tell us what you think.

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Given the tendency of Odd Future producers to create beats from scratch, it’s interesting to hear Domo and Earl on this sample-driven instrumental. Gibbs steals the show with a well-executed Baby Face reference, but the Odd Future rhymers still hold their own despite being in uncommon territory. In fact, they actually sound pleasingly soulful over Madlib‘s hazy production. “Robes” is the latest release from Gibbs and Madlib‘s upcoming album Pinata, due out in March. Listen below.

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In an interview with probably two of the most slyly funniest guys ever, we were able to chat with Alchemist and Evidence about this new chapter of their careers, how Lord Steppington really came to be, and their favorite projects of 2013. There’s a lot of sarcasm in this interview, so read closely.

RESPECT: You guys are childhood friends and you’ve worked together many times in the past. How did you guys first meet?

Alchemist: Well Evidence used to work at the Swedish Auto Clinic on Lincoln Boulevard. Ev used to work there, he was a mechanic and it all started from there.

So this being you guys’ first album together, what was it like not really having any creative restriction on Lord Steppington?

Evidence: Well, Brother Ali pretty much told Alchemist how to do the shit.

Alchemist: We owe a lot to Ali. He handed us a manuscript with some mad cadences and Ev transcribed them. He had a whole new cache of rhyme patterns once he came back from Europe.

Evidence: I’m into how the brain correlates with the voice. You can like rap left-footed or left-handed and it can really make a difference on your performance. Like if you rap with your left hand versus your right. Or with your right foot first or your left foot first. It’s basically like, if you use your left hand first you’re sharper, like you’re on the beat more. But if you use your right hand, more emotion comes out. So you gotta choose, do I want to be tighter on the rhythm or do I want to be a little sloppier but have more emotion with the right hand? The same applies to the feet.

So what would you say you guys’ style is then? What to do you tend to do when you’re rapping?

Evidence: I don’t know, like I’ve re-done tapes and been like man, I need to go re-do that left -handed because  it was tight with the emotion, but then I didn’t hit the beat right. On the stage, I switch.

For Lord Steppington, did you both work on the beats or maybe one of you worked more on the lyrics? How did you divide everything up?

Alchemist: Brother Ali did most of it, I just controlled the machine so it was basically his input. He did the beats as well as the rhymes when you break it down.

Evidence: Slug did the hooks.

Alchemist: So the whole family did it, it’s like Rhymesayers across the map.

So when did you two really decide to create the album? Had you been thinking about doing it for a while?

Alchemist: I looked at Brother Ali to the left and he just gave me this nod. It was like a mafia nod. Like you know when they make the nods for a hit? And I just knew it was a sign that we had to make an album.

Do you think your work with say Dilated Peoples or any of your other past projects influenced the sound of Lord Steppington? Did you guys try to go for something totally different?

Evidence: I think it was different. The apartment in Amsterdam, when we did a lot of it there, it just didn’t feel like L.A. The Netherlands is different from L.A. The sun’s not out all day, it gets dark early, we were looking at red light shit everyday. It was just a different vibe.

So you released “Step Masters” as the first single back in November. What made you pick Step Masters as the single?

Evidence: It’s the only track that doesn’t have drums. We just wanted something different. Because everyone’s beats are always crashing, so it was more of check us out and you’ll get to the bangers when you get the record.

Alchemist: The track was co-produced by Twiz the Beat Pro. He’s the human version of a skeleton. He’s crazy skinny but he makes funky beats. He’s ill.            

Evidence: Terrible name, great producer.

Alchemist: Great producer, great guy, on the come-up. Looks malnourished but funky.

Are you planning on releasing another single anytime soon?

Evidence: I think we are going to perform, go to Europe in these next two weeks and perform the album and see which songs react the best. I think we’ll be able to judge it off of that.

Alchemist: Did you hear the album? What should be the single?

“Mums In The Garage” with Action Bronson is an awesome track.

Alchemist: We are going to do incentives with every single from now on. Like this next single comes with a piece of gefilte fish. No ones ever done that. We’re going to make that possible. Free pickled tomatoes with the album.

Where did the title Lord Steppington come from?

Alchemist: He’s Evidence’s old au pair. He’s his old house sitter. You know, Evidence grew up in an English breakfast setting so we just wanted to dedicate it to the guy that used to look out for his house.

This is kind of a difficult question but now that 2013 is over, if you had to pick, what was the best mixtape or album of the year?

Evidence: 2013, my favorite album was Kanye West interviews.

Alchemist: Hmmm, Blue Chips 2, Action Bronson. Best mixtape of the year.

Evidence: And Ready to Die by Biggie Smalls. If you revisit it. Alchemist is a big Yeezus supporter.

Alchemist: Yeezus like shaped me in a way. I was going one direction and when I heard Yeezus, I just had to pump the breaks. Praise Yeezus. It was a brilliant work of art. It was a moment that he captured in all its splendor in electronified brilliance.

So what can listeners expect to see from Step Brothers in the near future? Any tours planned?

Evidence: No, we are doing the no promotion, less is greater thing.

Oh, kind of like the whole Beyonce secret album thing?

Evidence: No we are literally trying to see how many records we can’t sell.

Alchemist: Be completely non-existent. We book the shows we just don’t show up.

Evidence: We were like platinum before we even came out. We’re kind of some ill.

Alchemist: I sold a million props last year. My props went platinum last year. You wouldn’t believe how many prop units I moved. 

The regular and deluxe version with bonus tracks and a digital booklet is available for download on iTunes. Or check out a stream of the entire album below.

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On the album opener, “Goon’N,” between the opening and closing verses, Domo confesses, “Hell yeah, nigga. This shit amazing, I can’t believe it. It’s like unbelievably amazing.” He eventually begins bragging (of course), but his surprised response to his own music has an important implication, one that’s sublimated throughout the album: they recorded MellowHigh with nearly no expectations. The fact that the result of their no-stakes effort is actually good marks an interesting shift in Odd Future’s collective development. They’ve always made music organically, without any set expectations, but the polish of MellowHigh couldn’t have happened back in 2011. Somehow that lack of expectations would have manifested in a throwaway line or two, or a lame gag. Here in 2013, they’ve grown so much that they can utilize their spontaneity without becoming victims of it or having to “summon it” through force. Otherwise put, they can stage dive without risking injury or doing it out of “obligation.” They’ve reached a state of pure confidence, one that’s so subconscious Domo is surprised at how good they are, as if he’s forgotten.

Beyond Domo‘s surprise, this confidence is most apparent in Left Brain‘s choice of beats. He’s always pushed the limits of anyone rapping over his instrumentals, but here he ups the ante. Songs like “Nobody” and the aptly named album apex “High Life” are characterized by truly sinister synths. On the former, Left Brain makes the synths wail like agitated birds, smothering them with boulder-sized heapings of snares and bass as he subtly pitches them up and down and back again. The effect is tortuous, but in the best way imaginable. “High Life” is even more riveting, featuring subdued synths that flutter alongside frenetic drums, concentrated bass and repeated boasts from Domo and Smoke DZA. Left Brain even manages to incorporate Curren$y‘s unintelligible mutterings into the instrumental.

Even with all these manifestations of confidence, confidence alone is never enough. Bolstering Left Brain’s confidence to push against the grain is skill. On MellowHigh Hodgy and Domo are particularly focused, especially for an Odd Future project. Of the myriad laughs and jokes that likely occurred during the recording process, only a few made it to the album, mostly concentrated on the album closer “Cigarillo.” To clarify, this focus isn’t humorlessness. Hodgy is as crafty as ever: “Fuck a pig, bitch! Word to my Muslim pops.” And Domo shouts out Chief Keef at the end of his verse on “Self Titled.” Resident clown Jasper even makes a brief cameo on “Goon’N.” In other words, rather than something that they actively avoided, humor is simply something that they largely just weren’t going for, so they stuck to keeping it at arm’s length.

In the end, what MellowHigh was going for – a solid demonstration of their ability to make interesting music – was definitely accomplished. One of the dangers of constantly producing music with the same people is staleness. After 4 years of frequent in-house collaborations, one would expect Odd Future to have collectively either plateaued at best or decomposed in a blaze of incestuous banality at worst, but they continue to crank out solid projects. Following Wolf, Doris and Feel Good, MellowHigh is further proof that Odd Future’s family-first approach is facilitating, not inhibiting. Skill certainly plays a decisive role in MellowHigh‘s success – after all, there are plenty of music crews that only work with each other and still produce duds because they lack the talent- but the confidence to push each other, to not take that skill for granted, is something that is unique to Odd Future. Hopefully things will remain that way for years to come.

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