When I reviewed Orijin’s In Good Hands, I thought it was fantastic hip hop done with a vintage style. Clearly, Orijin is still fascinated with that sound: Re:Percussions, his latest foray into the genre, is a stunner that doesn’t shy away from the rapper’s big ideas.
Dreaming is a great example: Orijin raps out the coming return of Christ and the second coming in a way that would be energizing for those in the faith and challenging for those who are not.
That being said, it’s not all seriousness: tracks like Chill Out have a fantastic, laid-back retro vibe and have a ton of fun games and hilarious rhymes. But even when he’s being funny, Orijin is still trying to make a point about the responsibility rappers have to drop the braggadocio attitude, chill out, and get a little more honest.
Most of Orijin’s music lives that as a mantra. It’s not just his vocal approach, but also his beats: almost every one of Orijin’s tracks is delightfully old-school. Catch ’Em All, Don’t Wanna Know, and Last Minute all have these wicked old-school beats that sound like something RJD2 would have dropped as a part of Soul Position.
Re:Percussions is also a refinement of Orijin’s talent: he’s clearly stronger as a rapper, with a better sense of flow and lyrics that have a more clever sense of rhyme and rhythm before. It’s a mixtape that does everything right and little wrong: Re:Percussions is short and easily digestible, while still offering a lot of depth — and a natural progression of Orijin’s skills.
You can also listen to the entirety of Re:Percussions on Youtube.