‘all my homies are beautiful.’ - [offbeatninja]
This week we breakdown [offbeatninja]’s ‘all my homies are beautiful.’
[offbeatninja] aka [obn] began making music in 2011. Inspired by the iconic bumps on Adult Swim, he began to experiment with audiotool, a website for creating beats. Since these humble beginnings [obn] has become a stalwart in the beat community. Coming to prominence in the fabled Soundcloud era, he remains a well respected and passionate voice in the community. Last year’s ‘all my homies are beautiful.’ is one of his most recent full length projects, but how does it figure into this storied producer’s impressive back catalogue?
‘all my homies are beautiful.’ is an album that is ultimately a celebration of creativity and inspiration in the face of adversity. The interesting slant that [obn] takes however, is to extend this supportive atmosphere outwards to the wider creativity community. As [obn] himself explains:
‘“all my homies are beautiful" is basically an album of appreciation to all my creative homies from all over the place. Doesn't matter if your painting, dancing, beat making, etc. You're an amazing person at the end of the day and I'm proud of you for being so talented and inspirational.’
This nurturing and supportive atmosphere that [obn] cultivates conceptually, allows a certain form of therapy for both creator and listener to take place. It’s rare to have a sum of work created over a few years meld so well and unify as a therapeutic act and it really speaks to [obn]’s talent not only as a producer; but also his sensibility as an artist.
[obn] described his own cathartic release through the album:
‘Most definitely this was major therapy for me. The pass two years has been rough. Lost my job, the pandemic, racial inequality in America, police brutality, and me almost losing my life to a robber. It felt like the world was falling apart. By making music it just held everything together for me yah know? I made this album as way to navigate through this.’
The album does a wonderful job of creating space for therapeutic moments. Rather than be obvious or in your face, the track’s individual concepts and ideas give the listener enough mental space to reflect on their own creative efforts. To really let the music be the soundtrack to their own internal thought process. Never hindering ideas or suggesting alternative narrative, [obn] trusts the listener with his music but also believes in what he is trying to express simultaneously. That is apparent throughout.
Sonically, ‘all my homies are beautiful.’ is trademark [obn]. Dusty, flavourful breaks sit nicely under waves of melodic, sampling excellence. Simple but beautiful. If you’re already a fan of [obn]’s unique boom bap style, you will not be disappointed with the sound on this project.
[obn]’s use of vocal edits and hiss re-flips of famous samples, gives some terrific flavour to the tracks. This is a masterclass of re-contextualisation. For example on ‘queens’, [obn] re flips Michel Sardaby’s ‘Love Love and Dream’ which was previously famously used by Nujabes on ‘City Lights’. [obn]’s natural skill in re-flipping well known staples in the community is beautiful, allowing the listener to almost create a through line of experiences from across their listening memory.
[obn] also lives up to the name offbeat on this project. The groove permeates every track. [obn]’s natural ear for that off-kilter, bounce is a key part of his style and lends a completely authentic note to the overall feeling of the album. This especially shines on ‘waves’ with crunchy, thick drums keeping an eerie shuffle while a mysterious flute drifts across the audio landscape.
When we asked how “all my homies are beautiful.” came together, [obn] gave us a fascinating insight into how intertwined concept and process are on this project:
‘When I started first working on this , I'll just make a beat a day and threw it in a folder. There was no structure for the album at all. The grand total of the beats I made in two years was roughly 100+ but on the album it's just a small fraction of that. The main thing that helps the process move more organically was the thought of a friend. My best friend helped with album cover and a close friend helped me stay inspired to continue to create. With those two elements, this was the most peaceful project I ever made. No mastering, full of imperfections, raw and beautiful. Just like the people I love the most on the planet. So if any of my friends are reading this, I'm so proud of you and take your time with your creative process, because it'll pay off in the end.’
‘all my homies are beautiful.’ is a wondrous, uplifting album. The gracious generosity of the theme is felt from beginning to end. The album begs the listener to be introspective for while but in a totally positive way. [obn] has been able to distill not only his own personal triumphs and tribulations, but also been able to express an understanding and pride in the wider creative community’s experiences. Through his trademark sound, [obn] is able to stay true to his sonic heart whilst exploring these themes. The sensitive nature of the concept is never let down by the actual production. The beats have a sense of quiet ease to them which drifts into the listener’s mental. Overall the album is about honesty and this is what you get with [obn]. Consistently heartfelt honesty, expressed through sublime, raw production.
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Listen to ‘all my homies are beautiful.’ below: