Oddisee

Amir Mohamed el Khalifa (born February 24, 1985), better known by his stage name Oddisee, is an American rapper and record producer from Washington, D.C. He is one third of rap trio Diamond District. He was also part of the Low Budget Crew. He is based in Brooklyn, New York.

Early life

Oddisee was born to an African American mother and a Sudanese father, at Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C. He was raised by his stepmother (who was also Sudanese) and father. He grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland, as well as Prince George's County, Maryland. He moved to Washington, D.C. after high school.

Career

In 2010, Oddisee released ''Traveling Man'' on Mello Music Group. His ''Odd Spring'' mixtape was listed on the ''Washington Posts Best Local Hip-Hop mixtapes of 2010. In 2011, Oddisee released ''Rock Creek Park'', which was ranked as a Mixtape of the Week by ''Stereogum''. ''Odd Seasons'', a collection of EPs released throughout the previous 12 months, was also released that year.

In 2012, he released a studio album, ''People Hear What They See''. ''The Beauty in All'', his first instrumental release since ''Rock Creek Park'', was released in 2013. In that year, he also released ''Tangible Dream''. In 2015, he released ''The Good Fight''. In 2016, he released an EP, ''Alwasta'', and a mixtape, ''The Odd Tape''. In 2017, he released a studio album, '' The Iceberg'', as well as a live album, ''Beneath the Surface''.

Style and influences

Oddisee was originally influenced by his parents' heritages, combined with a hip hop influence from his older cousins. In an interview with NPR, he explained why he was influenced by early East Coast emcees such as Eric B. & Rakim, De La Soul, and A Tribe Called Quest. He stated that these rappers don't talk about drugs or murder, and he could relate more to their lyrics.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''101'' (2008)
* ''Mental Liberation'' (2009)
* ''New Money'' (2009)
* ''In the Ruff'' (2009)
* ''Traveling Man'' (2010)
* ''People Hear What They See'' (2012)
* ''The Beauty in All'' (2013)
* ''Tangible Dream'' (2013)
* ''March on Washington'' (2014)
* ''The Good Fight'' (2015)
* '' The Iceberg'' (2017)
* ''To What End'' (2023)

Live albums

* ''Beneath the Surface'' (2017)

Compilation albums

* ''Odd Seasons'' (2011)

Mixtapes

* ''Instrumental Mixtape Volume One'' (2005)
* ''The Remixture Vol. 1'' (2006)
* ''Foot in the Door'' (2006)
* ''Instrumental Mixtape Vol. 2'' (2006)
* ''Odd Summer'' (2009)
* ''Odd Autumn'' (2009)
* ''Odd Winter'' (2010)
* ''Odd Spring'' (2010)
* ''Rock Creek Park'' (2011)
* ''The Odd Tape'' (2016)

EPs

* ''Good Tree'' (2008)
* ''Hear My Dear'' (2008)
* ''Odd Renditions Vol. 001'' (2012)
* ''Alwasta'' (2016)
* ''Odd Cure'' (2020)

Singles

* "Show You" / "Part of the World" (2006)
* "Once Again" (2006)
* "101" (2008)
* "Slow It Down" (2012)
* "Ain't That Peculiar (Remix)" (2013)
* "Lost Cause" (2014)
* "That's Love" (2015)

As a member of Ave.to

* ''Three Way Intersection'' (2008)

Guest appearances

* DJ Jazzy Jeff - "Musik Lounge" from '' The Magnificent'' (2002)
* The Foreign Exchange - "The Answer" from ''Connected'' (2004)
* Kenn Starr - "Nothing But Time" from '' Starr Status'' (2006)
* SoulStice - "Get It Right" from ''Dead Letter Perfect'' (2007)
* Marco Polo - "Low Budget Allstars" from ''Port Authority'' (2007)
* J-Live - "The Upgrade" from ''Then What Happened?'' (2008)
* SoulStice & Sbe - "Unfold" from ''Beyond Borders'' (2009)
* Apollo Brown - "Lower the Boom" and "Propa" from ''The Reset'' (2010)
* JR & PH7 - "Hustle and Flow" from ''The Update'' (2010)
* B-Doub - "All in a Days Work" from ''Food for Thought'' (2010)
* Apollo Brown - "The Times" from ''Clouds'' (2011)
* DTMD - "Been Tryin'" from ''Makin' Dollas'' (2011)
* Trek Life - "Might Sound Crazy" from ''Wouldn't Change Nothing'' (2011)
* Eric Lau - "What I'd Rather" (2012)
* Trek Life - "We Good" from ''Hometown Foreigner'' (2013)
* Eric Lau - "Rise Up" from '' One of Many'' (2013)
* 20syl - "Ongoing Thing" from ''Motifs'' (2014)
* Soulpete - "Rhymes on Random" from ''Soul Raw'' (2014)
* Apollo Brown - "What You Were Lookin' For" from ''Grandeur'' (2015)
* No Wyld - "Nomads" from ''Nomads'' (2016)
* L'Orange - "Look Around" from ''The Ordinary Man'' (2017)
* Ramey Dawoud - "The Strife" (2020)
* Elaquent - "Guidelines" from ''Forever Is a Pretty Long Time'' (2020)

Productions

* J-Live - "Aaw Yeah" from ''The Hear After'' (2005)
* Sareem Poems - "Tell It" and "She So" from ''Black and Read All Over'' (2009)
* Verbal Kent - "In the Beginning" from ''Save Your Friends'' (2010)
* Trek Life - "Ready to Live", "Still Never Rains", "As the World Turns", "Everything Changed Nothing", “Wow", "Due West", "So Supreme", "I'd Rather Be", "So LA", "Jump Out There", and "Might Sound Crazy" from ''Everything Changed Nothing'' (2010)
* Georgia Anne Muldrow & Declaime - "Get Up Gogo" from ''Heaven or Hell'' (2010)
* Trek Life - "Get in Touch" and "Wouldn't Change Nothing" from ''Wouldn't Change Nothing'' (2011)
* Has-Lo - "Last Day of School" from ''Conversation B'' (2011)
* Homeboy Sandman - "Whatchu Want from Me?" from '' First of a Living Breed'' (2012)
* Substantial - "Check My Resume", "Make Believe", "Shit on My Lawn", "Umoja", and "Movin Alright" from ''Home Is Where the Art Is'' (2012)
* Rainy Milo - "The Other Way" from ''Limey - "Sorry Bonita" from ''Summer Knights'' (2013)
* Far Exp - "Checklist" from ''The Expansion'' (2014)
* Ardamus - "If Only I Gave Ah" from ''I Can'Replace Me, Pt. 1: Improve'' (2014)
* King Mez - "New Vinyl" (2014)
* Finale - ''Odds & Ends'' (2015)
* Ardamus - "When The Truth Comes Out, Pt. 2" and "Luxury Tax" ''I Can'Replace Me, Pt. 2: Develop'' (2014)

References

External links

*
*
*

{{Authority control

African-American male rappers
African-American Muslims
1985 births
American people of Sudanese descent
Living people
Mello Music Group artists
Rappers from Maryland
Rappers from Washington, D.C.
People from Largo, Maryland
21st-century American rappers
21st-century American male musicians
21st-century African-American musicians
20th-century African-American people