Albums

Oddisee Drops Surprise ‘Alwasta’ EP

blame it on Patrick Glynn March 23, 2016
oddisee-alwasta-ep

After delivering his The Good Fight LP in April 2015, DC rapper/producer Oddisee stuck behind the boards for much of the remaining eight months of the year, laying his dusty, soulful sounds on Finale’s Odds & Ends and a Red Pill & Blu song among other collaborations.

Today, though, he surprised us with a new EP, AlWasta, a seven-track, self-produced effort sans features. He described the central themes and the name of the project on Bandcamp:

The term “wasta” comes from the Arabic word “wasat,” meaning “middle” or “middleman,” and describes a member of the community who acts as a connector using their wealth of social currency. Understanding the value of social currency & how to use it (for better or worse) is what Amir Elkhalifa aka Oddisee focused on as the primary inspiration for his writings.

The project came along with the announcement of a large international tour with his backing band, Good Compny. It will run from May through July. He also said he plans on releasing an instrumental album before the tour starts and another album in the fall. We’re here for all of this.

Stream the EP below, and download it for free via Bandcamp. Check the dates for the tour below the stream of the project.

Oddisee & Good Compny Tour Dates:

3/26/16 Treefort Festival – Boise, ID
5/3/2016 Middle East Downstairs – Boston, MA
5/6/16 Mainstage – Morgantown, WV
5/7/16 Strange Matter – Richmond, VA
5/8/16 Kings Barcade – Raleigh, NC
5/11/16 Jack Rabbits – Jacksonville, FL
5/13/16 Orpheum – Tampa, FL
5/14/16 Backbooth – Orlando, FL
5/15/16 Side Bar – Tallahassee, FL
5/16/16 Parish @ HOB – New Orleans, LA
5/20/16 Foundry at SLS – Las Vegas, NV
5/21/16 El Rey Theatre – Los Angeles, CA
5/22/16 Constellation Room – Santa Ana, CA
5/24/16 Soda Bar – San Diego, CA
5/26/16 The Independent – San Francisco, CA
5/30/16 Sasquatch Festival – Seattle, WA
6/4/16 Bunbury Festival – Cincinnatti, OH
6/12/16 Northside Festival – Brooklyn, NY
6/25/16 Glastonbury Festival – Pilton, UK
6/27/16 O2 Academy – Oxford, UK
7/7/16 Les Ardentes Festival – Leige, Belgium
7/8/16 North Sea Jazz Festival – Rotterdam, Netherlands
7/9/16 Open Source Festival – Dusseldorf, Germany
7/10/16 Cactus Festival – Bruges, Belgium
7/16/16 Melt! Festival – Gräfenhainichen, Germany
7/19/16 Valkhof Festival – Nijmegen, Netherlands
7/23/16 Hip Hop Open Festival – Vienna, Austria
7/27/16 Blue Balls Festival – Lucerne, Switzerland
7/29/16 Appletree Gardens Festival – Diepholz, DE
7/30/16 Stuttgart Festival – Stuttgart, DE