74: Out of Time (Reimagined)

by OL’ BURGER BEATS

Listen On: Spotify • Apple Music • Bandcamp

Norwegian producer Ole-Birger Neergård revisits 74: Out of Time with emotive ideations; new remixes featuring Fly Anakin, Pink Siifu, Gabe ‘Nandez, Quelle Chris, and other notables from the current vanguard of rap progressives. Weaving social and cultural themes throughout, this ambitious project is a corollary to the unrest and tension felt in 1974, a year of political disruption and disillusionment — not unlike our current state of affairs. 

Neergård’s minimalistic approach contains multitudes, tracks with high levels of organization in its simplicity, with a jazz-anchored tapestry that also includes YUNGMORPHEOUS, lojii, and Tha God Fahim. On “Slippery,” a spiritually intimate profession, the enigmatic billy woods says: “I used to think the means justified the ends / I had it backwards, I made amends.” 

This sense of numerology surrounding “74” underscores the project in other ways, specifically the sample palette, and a stark sense of activism, emphasized by songs titled, “Out of Life,” “Resting Rate” and “Wish I Could Go Back.” True to form, the entire album is paced at 74 BPM, with the cast of guests jutting in and out of OBB’s fluid arrangements, which can be bold when bare yet richly layered during flourishing moments.

-David Ma