Homeboy Sandman called this record his favorite of 2012. And while that means something to me, It's not why I've held on to Oddisee's People Hear What They See LP for nearly ten years. In reality, it's been kind of a talisman, a charm to help me grasp in reality, what I hold in the gaze of my mind's eye— guiding my actions, as if I were an arrow, that, once let loose from the bow, catches the correct air current, and in the face of all probabilities and statistical likelihoods, hits the bullseye- dead center. Oddisee has a certain adeptness of observation and sophistication of execution about him that I aspire to myself. This is demonstrated on People Hear What They See in ways that I think are immediately clear, even when listened to without intention or directed attention. This holistic approach is something that seeps to the surface from the very bones of the release's concept, like a wellspring of crude hinting at an abundance of wealth sousing just below the surface. Oddisee takes as his starting point for the album the way in which people have become dependent on visuals in the modern era- to the point of a near handicap. He acknowledges that we live in an era so awash in visual pleasures that we fail to give due weight to our other senses (or our own critical faculties). It's a thin world. One that is defined by illusion. And one that he was able to slip into and flesh out with some character with his effortlessly fast and visceral flow and benevolent command of boom-bap beats. I might not have saved the world, but it did catch my eye (and ear!) and has left a lingering sparkle as a sign of the encounter. And it proved to me something that I've held fast to ever since- that you can change the way a person sees the world by sharing with them a glimpse of what it looks like from your vantage point. It doesn't always work. But it is always worth the effort.
People Hear What They See was released by Mello Music Group.
