Open Mike Eagle has been an underground trailblazer for a while now, but his excellent 2017 LP, Brick Body Kids Still Daydream, brought even more attention to his name. His experimental production, quirky bars, insightful social and political commentary and unconventional flow patterns all make his music a refreshing listen. He teamed up with Closed Sessions, a hip hop label from his hometown of Chicago, to provide the lead single off their upcoming compilation album, Closed Sessions Vol. 3. The album is set to feature Kemba, Kipp Stone, Mother Nature, ShowYouSuck, Khary, Dave B.
Just based off the song's title, "Whiskey & Push-ups", it is made evident that Open Mike Eagle does not shy away from imbuing humor in his raps. But at the same time, he is intensely introspective and hypervigilant of his surroundings. BoatHouse's skittery trap instrumental plays with the same dichotomy that Mike does in his lyrics. There's something uneasy about the synth sounds in the background, but at the same time, the hard-hitting drums are tricking you into turning up. Similarly, Mike can open the song discussing the paranoia of knowing our gadgets are tracking our every move for governments and corporations to keep tabs on us, but then abruptly shift to a bouncy refrain of "I drink whiskey and do push-ups!" However, in the video shared from the track's studio session, he suggests that toying with these disparate concepts isn't necessarily a deliberate move: "I don't necessarily catalogue things overtly in pop culture. Whatever way my brain works, in terms of connections of things, I try to put that front and center - like how my train of thought works."
Quotable Lyrics
I'm an unlicensed architect
And martian tech is in hidden in the verses
So fiends search for the carpet specks
Dang, catch me deep in my language bag
Reverse the earth, spin fast, so I can change the past