BANDCAMP SUGGESTIONS: Ozone’s “Space Cracker”
There used to be the saying “keeping it real” when it came to hip-hop, but a lot of times the rapper was not telling a true story. It was a mixture of real life experiences mixed up with hopes, dreams, fears, nightmares, or putting one’s self in a scenario similar to that of a TV show or movie. All of a sudden, a rapper’s success was based on the public perception of how real they were, when in truth they were equating them with a perceived role.
Portland, Oregon’s Ozone shares his love of writing, rapping, and rhyming on an album where he portrays the character of Doctor Macho, and he isn’t afraid to call himself Space Cracker. Ozone has been doing his thing for years, but he has been taking a time out from making music to get involved with the actual world. When he created Space Cracker, it seems he was doing this knowing that the music wouldn’t be ready for fans, so he gathered the pieces between 2003 and 2007, and eventually put the entire project on the side. Hearing it as one, it’s a concept album that is perfect for the world of lunacy we live in today. As the music takes on an equal amount of lunacy, one can see how Ozone was simply making music for a future world which simply came from being honest about himself, and wanting to try a few things that may have been left of center then. It fits in with the craziness of Quasimoto’s The Further Adventures Of Lord Quas and El-P’s more recent Cancer For Cure, but behind that craziness is a message that you really have to search for by listening. It is the listening experience that will pull you through, and once you come out of it, you want to go back in. That’s the power of a Super Cracker. In music as in real life, he is fighting the good fight, and you’ll want to champion him for the win.
What do you think?