Photography by Rachel Lily (Kiki)
Since 2015, vocalist OmenXIII has made a name for himself over an extensive discography of projects. For the second time since their project Grim last year, the rapper teamed up with legendary producer Purpdogg. Purp has worked with names from both the underground and mainstream, panning from artists such as Bones and Xavier Wulf, all the way to huge names like Jay Z, Drake and Migos; meaning this collaboration between the two brought huge excitement for fans. Their latest record Underworld prove the underground scene isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Opening with mystical track ‘Cloak and Dagger,’ the intriguing atmosphere whisks you in from the moment you press play. With a melody sounding fresh from the soundtrack of a ‘Harry Potter’ movie combined with hard hitting, aggressive percussion, the instrumental is ferocious, matching hand in hand with OmenXIIIs moodily hostile bars. Following up this comes second track; ‘Black Widow.’ An eerie toybox melody rolls back and forth in your skull, only to be held in place with the sinister raps.
The energy soon picks up however, with intrusive fourth track ‘A Hundred Blades.’ “I Got 100 Blades, they Solve 99 Problems” Omen assertively screams in the hook over the pin sharp keys and hard hitting 808s. The track gets straight to point, hitting you when you don’t expect it and leaving you no chance to get back up.The tone chills out with follow up track ‘Anonymous.’ The ominous hook “Who do you know?” flows smoothly with the reversing piano instrumental. The flickering hi hats, thumping kicks and slamming snare finish off this song with the final touch a hostility.
One more track that really stood out from the rest was ‘Silence‘. Bringing out a much more melodic side, Omens wavy, spacious vocals float around your headphones, while still managing to keep his signature dark form.
Overall the project is a reminder that OmenXIII is showing no signs of slowing down, and with Purpdogg’s immaculate production, the duo prove once again that their work together is an ideal depiction of what the underground scene is really about.