Posted by Art-rap pioneer Open Mike Eagle has been going through some emotional turbulence, and after being prompted by his therapist, has shaped his pain into a remarkable album. ‘Anime, Trauma And Divorce’ is an unapologetically honest, darkly humorous dispatch from what he terms his “own personal winter”.
The 12-track project explores the collapse of a marriage, financial turmoil, anxiety, self-doubt and self-care. A lesser rapper might sink in the mire, but Open Mike has always been dope on the mic, and ‘Anime, Trauma and Divorce’ find him at his best.
‘The Black Mirror Episode’/‘WTF Is Self Care’ is a show stealing one-two, with the latter track boasting the album’s most stunning bars: “I tried it out and found pain I was circling / and started crying so hard I was gurgling.”
Rounding off the project with a live recording of the hilarious father-son collaboration ‘Fifteen Twenty Feet Ocean Nah’ is a stroke of genius, and reassures us that Mike is finding his way back from the depths towards the surface.
9/10
Words: Robert Kazandjian
Dig It? Dig Deeper! Armand Hammer, MF DOOM, El-P
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