Lojii - lo&behold

I know in a lot of my posts I give context of how I discovered stuff I'm writing about, and I feel its important to give credit, where credit is due. That being said, MIKE retweeted this album when it came out, I love MIKE'S shit, so I checked out Lojii, and lo&behold (😬) this record has become one of my favorite hiphop albums in last few years. Firstly, I wanna say SOMEONE release this on tape or vinyl for fuck sake!  Immediately I was taken by the production, and the low key grooves, samples of jazz, soul and abstract electronic music that create a soft focused psychedelic bed for Lojii to do his thing over. Lojii story telling is fantastic, my interpretation of his lyrics could most certainly be WRONG, but to me alot of it is about late stage capitalism and trying to find the moment's of pleasure when your constantly having to hustle your way through life just to survive. These lyrical themes are so clearly in focus on the track "Between Hu$tles" : "I haven't felt the same since I made my first hundred/then I learned the game and how to turn into another/I aint got time to worry about the second coming/I be to tired worrying about the first coming", for me I cant imagine a PERFECT articulation of what it is to poor/working class in America, its extremely universal, I relate to it completely despite, Lojii and I having very different experiences in life. The record is full of these great bars, and his cadence is smooth and confident. Obviously being a white dood writing about hiphop feels weird becuz, this is, in a way voyerism, I'm taking a peak into a world that isn't mine, but I think listening to hiphop radicalizes me more, cuz I listen to stories, those stories create more knowledge and empathy about experiences outside my own. I want to be respectful and lift up a great artist. All that being said, I fucking love this record, I think its been under praised, and I hope this little essay turns some more people onto it. Enjoy

https://lojii.bandcamp.com/album/lo-behold-2