I’m not sure hip hop was ever not cool. Oddisee, at least, has been impossibly cool for as long as I have been aware of him.

Oddisee has long been one of the most entertaining producers in ‘underground’ hip hop. He seems to be working constantly, with a bulging discography of soul-inflected, classic-sounding records. His Odd Seasons collection – four records, one for each season – is particularly good.

His 2009 album Mental Liberation has just been rereleased, along with rediscovered bonus material. The opening track, ‘Hip Hop’s Cool Again’, is an early high point; the head-nodding beat is characteristically compulsive, and Oddisee sounds particularly lyrically at ease here.

Mental Liberation (which includes guest spots from Trek Life and MED, amongst others) is currently free to download from Bandcamp. You can get the LPs on import here.

http://soundcloud.com/tlobf/oddisee-hip-hops-cool-again