Hodgy first introduced himself to the world as a central part of Odd Future in the late 2000s. Most of us remember seeing him for the first time tearing up Jimmy Fallon's stage alongside a masked Tyler, The Creator during the crew's memorable television debut back in 2011—and now, finally, he's shared his first solo studio album, Fireplace: TheNotTheOtherSide.
"I think the timing, the universe and the cosmos, and where I’m at in my life, it just naturally came together," he explained to The FADER about his decision to finally drop the album. "It wasn’t really a decision that I made. I think it was the decision that was at hand, and I had to either go with it or not. I chose to go with it [...] I was at a point in my life where I was like, 'I think it is time for Hodgy to just focus on Hodgy right now.'"
Fans of his work alongside Left Brain in MellowHype won't be thrown off by Hodgy's ability to rap his ass off throughout the project, but the lush instrumentation may come as a surprise.
"It’s fuckin’ musical," he says. "These instruments are crying, and laughing, and searching for something. It’s not just an album, it’s an experience. It’s beyond me just rapping. I’m speaking to reach higher ground."
Listen to the 13-song project, which features Lil Wayne, Busta Rhymes, and Salomon Faye below.
