Oddisee

Amir Mohamed el Khalifa[2] (born February 24, 1985),[3] better known by his stage name Oddisee, is a half Black American and half Sudanese rapper and record producer from Washington, D.C.[4] He is one third of rap trio Diamond District.[5] He was also part of the Low Budget Crew.[6] He is based in Brooklyn, New York.[7]

Oddisee
Oddisee performing live
Oddisee performing live
Background information
Birth nameAmir Mohamed el Khalifa
Born (1985-02-24) February 24, 1985
Washington, D.C., U.S.
OriginLargo, Maryland, U.S.[1]
GenresHip hop
Occupation(s)
Years active1999–present
Labels
Websiteoddisee.bandcamp.com

Early life

Oddisee was born to a Foundational Black American mother and a Sudanese father,[8] at Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C.[9] He was raised by his stepmother (who was also Sudanese) and father.[8] He grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland,[8] as well as Prince George's County, Maryland.[10] He moved to Washington, D.C. after high school.[10]

Career

In 2010, Oddisee released Traveling Man on Mello Music Group.[11] His Odd Spring mixtape was listed on the Washington Post's Best Local Hip-Hop mixtapes of 2010.[12] In 2011, Oddisee released Rock Creek Park, which was ranked as a Mixtape of the Week by Stereogum.[13] Odd Seasons, a collection of EPs released throughout the previous 12 months, was also released that year.[14]

In 2012, he released a studio album, People Hear What They See.[15] The Beauty in All, his first instrumental release since Rock Creek Park, was released in 2013.[16] In that year, he also released Tangible Dream.[17] In 2015, he released The Good Fight.[18] In 2016, he released an EP, Alwasta, and a mixtape, The Odd Tape.[19] In 2017, he released a studio album, The Iceberg,[20] as well as a live album, Beneath the Surface.[21]

Style and influences

Oddisee was originally influenced by Black American Jazz traditions and the Golden Age of Hip-Hop sounds from his older American cousins. Oddisee was primarily influenced by Black American musical traditions. Growing up next door to Parliament Funkadelic's bass player Gary Shider in P.G. County, Maryland left a deep musical impact on the young Oddisee. He is also influenced by Gospel music and the vocal harmonizing traditions of his Black American heritage. In an interview with NPR, he explained why he was influenced by early East Coast emcees such as Eric B. & Rakim, De La Soul, and A Tribe Called Quest. He stated that these rappers don't talk about drugs or murder, and he could relate more to their lyrics.[10]

Discography
Oddisee performing at the Appletree Garden Festival in Diepholz, Germany, 2016.
Oddisee at Treefort Music Fest in Boise, Idaho, 2018.

Studio albums
  • 101 (2008)
  • Mental Liberation (2009)
  • New Money (2009) (with Trek Life)
  • In the Ruff (2009) (with YU and Uptown XO, as Diamond District)
  • Traveling Man (2010)
  • People Hear What They See (2012)
  • The Beauty in All (2013)
  • Tangible Dream (2013)
  • March on Washington (2014) (with YU and Uptown XO, as Diamond District)
  • The Good Fight (2015)
  • The Iceberg (2017)
  • To What End (2023)

Live albums
  • Beneath the Surface (2017)

Compilation albums
  • Odd Seasons (2011)

Mixtapes
  • Instrumental Mixtape Volume One (2005)
  • The Remixture Vol. 1 (2006)
  • Foot in the Door (2006)
  • Instrumental Mixtape Vol. 2 (2006)
  • Odd Summer (2009)
  • Odd Autumn (2009)
  • Odd Winter (2010)
  • Odd Spring (2010)
  • Rock Creek Park (2011)
  • The Odd Tape (2016)

EPs
  • Good Tree (2008)
  • Hear My Dear (2008)
  • Odd Renditions Vol. 001 (2012)
  • Alwasta (2016)
  • Odd Cure (2020)

Singles
  • "Show You" / "Part of the World" (2006) (with Heralds of Change)
  • "Once Again" (2006)
  • "101" (2008)
  • "Slow It Down" (2012)
  • "Ain't That Peculiar (Remix)" (2013)
  • "Lost Cause" (2014) (with YU and Uptown XO, as Diamond District)
  • "That's Love" (2015)

As a member of Ave.to
  • Three Way Intersection (2008)

Guest appearances
  • DJ Jazzy Jeff - "Musik Lounge" from The Magnificent (2002)
  • The Foreign Exchange - "The Answer" from Connected (2004)
  • Kenn Starr - "Nothing But Time" from Starr Status (2006)
  • SoulStice - "Get It Right" from Dead Letter Perfect (2007)
  • Marco Polo - "Low Budget Allstars" from Port Authority (2007)
  • J-Live - "The Upgrade" from Then What Happened? (2008)
  • K-Murdock - "Queasy" from "Memories of M.A.W.S.L.O.T." (2008)
  • Little Brother (group) - "Delusional" from And Justus For All (2008)
  • SoulStice & Sbe - "Unfold" from Beyond Borders (2009)
  • Apollo Brown - "Lower the Boom" and "Propa" from The Reset (2010)
  • JR & PH7 - "Hustle and Flow" from The Update (2010)
  • B-Doub - "All in a Days Work" from Food for Thought (2010)
  • Apollo Brown - "The Times" from Clouds (2011)
  • DTMD - "Been Tryin'" from Makin' Dollas (2011)
  • Trek Life - "Might Sound Crazy" from Wouldn't Change Nothing (2011)
  • Eric Lau - "What I'd Rather" (2012)
  • Trek Life - "We Good" from Hometown Foreigner (2013)
  • Eric Lau - "Rise Up" from One of Many (2013)
  • 20syl - "Ongoing Thing" from Motifs (2014)
  • Soulpete - "Rhymes on Random" from Soul Raw (2014)
  • Apollo Brown - "What You Were Lookin' For" from Grandeur (2015)
  • No Wyld - "Nomads" from Nomads (2016)
  • L'Orange - "Look Around" from The Ordinary Man (2017)
  • Ramey Dawoud - "The Strife" (2020)
  • Elaquent - "Guidelines" from Forever Is a Pretty Long Time (2020)

Productions
  • J-Live - "Aaw Yeah" from The Hear After (2005)
  • Sareem Poems - "Tell It" and "She So" from Black and Read All Over (2009)
  • Verbal Kent - "In the Beginning" from Save Your Friends (2010)
  • Trek Life - "Ready to Live", "Still Never Rains", "As the World Turns", "Everything Changed Nothing", “Wow", "Due West", "So Supreme", "I'd Rather Be", "So LA", "Jump Out There", and "Might Sound Crazy" from Everything Changed Nothing (2010)
  • Georgia Anne Muldrow & Declaime - "Get Up Gogo" from Heaven or Hell (2010)
  • Trek Life - "Get in Touch" and "Wouldn't Change Nothing" from Wouldn't Change Nothing (2011)
  • Has-Lo - "Last Day of School" from Conversation B (2011)
  • Homeboy Sandman - "Whatchu Want from Me?" from First of a Living Breed (2012)
  • Substantial - "Check My Resume", "Make Believe", "Shit on My Lawn", "Umoja", and "Movin Alright" from Home Is Where the Art Is (2012)
  • Rainy Milo - "The Other Way" from Limey (2012)
  • Joey Badass - "Sorry Bonita" from Summer Knights (2013)
  • Far Exp - "Checklist" from The Expansion (2014)
  • Ardamus - "If Only I Gave Ah" from I Can'Replace Me, Pt. 1: Improve (2014)
  • King Mez - "New Vinyl" (2014)
  • Finale - Odds & Ends (2015)
  • Ardamus - "When The Truth Comes Out, Pt. 2" and "Luxury Tax" I Can'Replace Me, Pt. 2: Develop (2014)
  • Lecrae - co-writer of "CC4" on Church Clothes 4

References
  1. Capone (October 26, 2011). "Oddisee's Musical Guide To DC: Putting The Mid-Atlantic On The Map". Prefix. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  2. Malmuth, Drew (May 18, 2015). "Oddisee's Hip-Hop Connects Through People Not Politics". Paste. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  3. Brown, Marisa. "Oddisee - Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  4. Fox, Luke (December 2012). "Oddisee". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  5. Hyden, Steven (June 3, 2012). "Oddisee". The A.V. Club.
  6. Zirm, Jordan (July 19, 2012). "Interview: Oddisee Talks About "People Hear What They See" And His Strategy To Remain Unknown". Complex.
  7. Younger, Briana (December 15, 2016). "Songs We Love: Oddisee, 'Things'". NPR. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  8. Simon, Scott (February 18, 2017). "Oddisee's 'The Iceberg' Has A Trove Of Stories Beneath Its Surface". NPR. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  9. Oddisee (July 27, 2011). "I lie, I was born in Howard University Hospital... but it's near the park. Still pretty sure my parents did it in the park... ew". Twitter. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  10. Raz, Guy (July 3, 2010). "Oddisee: Hip-Hop Leaves the City". NPR. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
  11. Martin, Andrew (February 11, 2010). "Oddisee: Traveling Man". PopMatters.
  12. David Malitz, The Washington Post, ISSN 0190-8286, December 24, 2010, p. T.6
  13. Breihan, Tom (September 21, 2011). "Mixtape Of The Week: Oddisee Rock Creek Park". Stereogum.
  14. Weiss, Jeff. "Other oddities: Oddisee premieres 'I'm From PG' off his 'Odd Seasons' LP". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 16, 2011.
  15. Soderberg, Brandon (May 29, 2012). "First Spin: Hear Oddisee's 'People Hear What They See'". Spin.
  16. Moore, Marcus J. (July 10, 2013). "Oddisee - The Beauty In All". Clash.
  17. Fairfax, Jesse (December 28, 2013). "The Top Projects We Missed In 2013". HipHopDX.
  18. Moore, Marcus J. (May 1, 2015). "Oddisee: The Good Fight". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  19. Johnson, Cherise (May 17, 2016). "Oddisee "The Odd Tape" Mixtape Stream, Cover Art & Tracklist". HipHopDX. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  20. Madden, Sidney (February 24, 2017). "Listen to Oddisee's New Album 'The Iceberg'". XXL. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  21. Ivey, Justin (November 9, 2017). "Oddisee Teams With Good Compny For Live Album "Beneath The Surface"". HipHopDX. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
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