It's always nice to see people like Oddisee, a great rapper, producer and a fantastic live performer, drop a free EP out of nowhere. Oddisee has been releasing nothing but quality for a while, with his most recent projects, Tangible Dream and The Good Fight, being very enjoyable. Those records featured a noticeable improvement from him in the rapping department, with Odd growing even more in synch with his production while being more adventurous with his flow and rhyming with well written and thoughtful lyrics. On this EP, we find Oddisse continuing this trend, delivering intelligent, well crafted rhymes over lush production that features tastefully used live instrumentation provided by his backing band, which is comprised of Ralph Real (keyboards and vocals), Dennis Turner (bass), Jon Laine (drums) and Oliver Saint Louis (guitar).
In light of his recent work and the release of Alwasta, it seems that the DC native is in the highest point thus far in his over a decade long career. Alwasta is a great EP - the work of a man who is confident and passionate about what he is doing. Oddisse sounds at home reflecting on the power and vulnerability that has come with his career over the live drums and great bass work that make up "Strength & Weakness". Another highlight is found in the hazy keys and beautiful background vocals of "No Reservations", which in large part features Oddisee speaking on the importance of time and his use of it ("If I could make time, I wouldn't make nothing else/I feel like with time, anything would probably make itself"). Oddisee has been making his sound more organic by incorporating live instrumentation into his beats for a while now, with horns and other instrumentation being a crucial part of The Good Fight, however, Alwasta isn't just Oddisee rehashing the overall vibe from that record.
Alwasta is generally not as upbeat as the more anthemic moments of The Good Fight. The EP doesn't sport songs like Oddisee's last lead single, "That's Love", which was a fast-paced, summer-ready, positive hip hop jam. Alwasta comes off as a quality mix of the more warm atmosphere of The Good Fight and the less lighthearted, but still soulful atmosphere found on Tangible Dream. Songs like the heavy banger "Lifting Shadows" and the raw, guitar-laden "Wouldn't Be Surprise" are on par with many of the quality tunes Oddisee has released in the past few years. Overall, if you are a fan of anything Oddisee has put out recently, the odds of you disliking this are very slim. Clocking in at 28 minutes, Alwasta is short, but sweet - a pleasant surprise.
