On Watergate, Open Mike Eagle, Dumbfoundead, and Psychosiz come together to make a cartoony and witty album that highlights each MC’s considerable strengths and blends them all together into an extraordinarily entertaining whole.
The three rappers became friends at Project Blowed, a long-running Leimert Park hip hop workshop whose influence on underground rap cannot be understated. In a sense, this album is a tribute to Blowed’s ability to unite talented artists and make them better through diversity of community. Mike’s a teacher by day and an “unapologetic art rapper” by night, Dumbfoundead is a celebrated globetrotting battler whose t-shirt ads can get 50,000 Youtube views in a single day, and Psychosiz is an introverted video game designer whose flow is acrobatic and craftily abstract. When they trade lines, they create something unique and outlandish.
On tracks like “Ducks Fail” and “Girls... Or... Like,” they sound like they’re having a hell of a time playing off of each other’s verses and experimenting with ideas they wouldn’t explore as solo artists. On “Sounds Like Rap” and “Antique Blowed Show,” the three men elevate each other with challenging and thoughtful ruminations on the nature of hip hop itself.
Taken as a whole, Watergate is a stacked album. Helmed by executive producer Busrider and featuring tracks by Daedalus, Exile, and Para One, it's full of so many smart lyrics and melodic ideas that it takes several listens to even realize how good it is. - LA Record |
