Just from the title, The Beauty In All, I knew I’d be in favor of Oddisee’s latest instrumental album. Oddisee is known for his ability to tell a story and evoke emotion with each sample or key he picks, so I was looking forward to hearing how he would exhibit ‘the flaws & mistakes that give life its character and worth’ [Oddisee]. The album kicks off with the cinematic ‘After Thoughts’ track where Oddisee’s choice in quick roll piano notes and eerie synthesizer sounds sucks you right into his world leaving behind any sort of reluctance you had to follow this musical voyage. From that piece I expected to be on a futuristic ride the whole record but there was a surprising amount of throwback samples like the highly recognizable sample from The Stylistics ‘Hurry Up This Way Again’ that Jay-Z used in ‘Politics As Usual’. I’m usually a fan of sampling but I feel that in this context some of Oddisee’s choices lacked stealth and broke me away from that universe he had initially created. I was too caught up trying to identify where the samples were coming from. It wasn’t until the 8th Track, ‘Caprice Down’, that I was able to let my mind ride with the beats again. If we are just talking production quality, this album is another one of Oddisee’s best but in terms of the concept, it lost some of its depth as the tracks progressed. With such a great idea at hand, I expected more from Oddisee.
