Office Hours: Volume One
New Izaya Tiji album??
REAL blogging hours.
I’m currently at work, teaching my ass off, but I’ve got something to say! I’m going to waste my preparatory hour (though it’s only 41 minutes in practice) and fire something off into the void. Don’t try this at home. Like I’ve always said, when inspiration strikes, I will strike back, and this is me doing just that.
A little over two weeks ago, the Ohio-raised SlayWorld lieutenant Izaya Tiji dropped thirty seven tracks that washed over SoundCloud like a comforting wave of gray. Tiji later posted on Instagram, claiming that these new songs are actually an entire album called o.
There were no signs nor indicators that he was going to do some crazy shit like this, but it makes sense for a unbridled rap stylist like Tiji. I mean, he just released the SoundCloud loosie “Paranoia” in October and the Middle Fingers EP in November, all while slowly trickling more random tracks. Why’d he decide to post this in the middle of January?? Frankly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Weaker men than I might ask, “how the fuck could any human digest all of this?? It’s too much music!” And they’re not wrong. I mean, 37 tracks with a runtime totaling over 96 minutes is a touch lengthy, but it’s not all new shit. Some of these songs have been out since 2023 in one form or another. None of this matters because when IT teams up with producers like wifi, Lj, and StepTeam standout ivvys and has flows and quotables by the dozens, you know that, new or old, a real music lover like myself lives for this shit.
As such, I will be taking a moment to categorize each song. There is no hierarchy once a track is in its category. They’re just in alphabetical order. Some songs will have a brief little write-up. Some will not.
One.
Select
There are no bad tracks on o, but some are more “regular” or less “interesting” than others and therefore occupy the lowest tier. In the sequence of the album, they sound great, but they couldn’t carry a shorter album where the stakes are higher.
“UMYDRUG”
Simply put, this track is plain. A lot of people like plain! I don’t.
“litter”
If your name isn’t Sosa, I have no time for triumphant ass, horn-laden beats.
“maryjane”
“no pressure”
Not quite my tempo. That said, Unotheactivist would eat.
“suncomeup”
“fucckk”
“mhm”
All is well until that fucking bass hits every seven seconds (I counted). When listened to properly (at an unholy volume), it will scare you.
“send it up”
“G”
WUNNA by Gunna-type beat.
“thatyeah”
“looking around”
My only beef is that this shit is too long! The album is already 96 minutes long! It doesn’t need a four minute deep cut.
“clone me”
“wtf u sayin”
I’ll admit it — I’m starting to get real sick of these beats by ok. Everyone who hops on one sounds good, but at the end of the day, they all a bit one-note à la mid-era Pi’erre Bourne.
Choice
This is where the highlight reel begins. Every one of these songs hits perfectly, and each would probably be lead single material if any other artist dropped them. These middle tier cuts are what make o into the spectacle that it is.
“oouh”
“that cho”
Modern day hustler anthem? Might just be.
“yop”
“diggingmyowngrave”
“i had to”
The flow? Mad.
“(N)umber 1”
“laundry”
Tiji isn’t at his most high-flying vocally, but he rides this beat so well. I like to imagine him in the booth emitting electricity from his fingers while speaking in tongues to the masses.
“remote”
“asleep” featuring Steel 11
“cant save u”
“swear”
“cheesitzblok”
Doing the 454 shtick nearly as well as the man himself.
“Divs”
This shit is SO close to entering the next tier, but Tiji is too subdued to stand out over this hushed, piano beat from the young legend Nine9.
“freestyle220”
“squable”
Spelling be damned! This man can rap!
Prime
This shit? This are the tape’s enders. The biggest, the weirdest, the strongest, the most infectious, and the most indelible. No one outside of Tiji could make tracks like these; these are the the crown jewels of o.
“wifi freestyle”
Impeccable introduction to o. Perfectly sets the scene without showing his hand.
“Free”
IT is spitting like his life depends on it over a throwback beat? And it sounds good? You son of a bitch — game on.
“i touched a spaceship”
No one else could make this bar sound this cool: “My biddie be horny, trombone / I almost broke her hip bone / My whip is foreign, it go / Shе call me Izzo, licked her hеad to toe.” I didn’t realize that Michigan State Basketball overlord Tom Izzo was freaky like that!
“tryhards”
Cloud trap at its very best.
“crazy”
Blown-out, decayed, proud, yet turned down? And self-produced? Real nice!
“How could I”
This brings a tear to my fuckin eyes, man. Enough so that I can excuse lines like “Had a bitch eating my meat / eating shit up like ham-sam’.”
“swae” & “million”
A real one-two punch of IT getting in that emotional bag. Alone, the tracks great. Together? They’re damn near a rap ballad in the same way that Future’s “Throwaway” and “Move to LA” by Babyface Ray are. Despite his lyrical limitations, he’s always been deeply thoughtful, and his delivery helps his contemplative side shine on these two late album cuts.
“splinner”
This is the shit that ian will strive to make for the rest of his life. No one does it like IT.
Good album. Go listen.
Haven’t used SoundCloud this year you really are putting on us non tapped in folk