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Melody and flow are becoming more indistinct from each other in hip-hop. Thing is, you can always tell when a rapper is using a singer’s melody and when a singer is using a rapper’s cadence. A Chris Brown rap verse and a J Cole hook both use flow and melody, but in ways that make them recognizable to the artist’s stronger traits. Still, there are exceptions to the rule. Artists like Chance The Rapper and Anderson Pak completely blur the lines between cadence and melody, making the music less about genre classification and more about an overall beautiful listening experience.

Enter Ottie James.

The 24 year old emcee/singer/funky muthfacka from Mobile, Alabama gives us his take on the de genre-fication of Hip-Hop with his painfully soulful, yet comforting “Native Tongues”. Producer Mac Bassick laces Ottie with a beat that sounds like dirt roads before Sunday Service.

Ottie plays the pastor, choir and congregation as he sings about the pain and confusion of growing up where opportunity is scarce, stereotypes are enforced like uniform policies (get a job out here? Huh. doubt it/ As I enter the room, I hear em talkin' in silence/ They don’t want no deals with us, thinkin' we killers and thieves/)  and your neighbor could be your undoing.

The hook is something sung by grandmothers, nanas, big momma’s and momma’s round the globe: “And I’ll pray for you everyday… I just hope that you make it.” Chuuch

Connect with Ottie James
Twitter.com/OttieJames
Instagram.com/ottiejames