Video: Opio x Free the Robots – “Blow Sum Smoke”

The Souls of Mischief Rapper Teams Up With the L.A. Beat Scene Vet For a Mystical Video, Premiered By Okayplayer

06.05.2015

Critical Praise for Opio x Free the Robots:

“Free the Robots…taps a dark, psychedelic vein while boasting highly technical hip-hop production prowess.” – SPIN

“Opio’s strengths are found in his flow and wordplay. His cadence is married to each rhythm.” – Okayplayer

“Opio’s ability to utilize intricate wordplay and vivid imagery as a means of putting him ahead of the pack.” – HipHopDX

“Somewhere between the neck-snapping, gritty hip-hop of the FatBeats era, the fuzzy, distorted psychedelia of the 60s & 70s, cool jazz, and the woozy beats scene of the last decade lies the music of Free the Robots.” – Okayfuture

The Video:

Souls of Mischief/Hieroglyphics rapper Opio paddles his makeshift raft from the Los Angeles river, through Oakland and Tracy, to parts of the Russian River in the mystical new video for “Blow Sum Smoke,” which is directed by Denmark videographer Troels. The tripped-out visual, which premiered via Okayplayer, shows the Bay Area legend equipped with a pirate telescope, which he says “was used to look inward for self exploration and outward towards the future.”

“Blow Sum Smoke” is off Opio and L.A. beat scene vet Free the Robots‘ 4-track The Subconscious Mind EP, their first collaborative effort, which released earlier this year. In the fall, they’ll be releasing a full length album together. “The beats for the EP were made right before the first Hiero day that I played couple years back,” Free the Robots explained. “At first the beats didn’t have a plan, but meeting the Opio and realizing he had been listening to my music, lead to conversations, which eventually lead to a collaboration. I sent over the tracks from the batch, and I he connected with them in an instant. The EP was finished within a couple weeks via emails, and now the LP is on the way.”

The duo, who officially met at FTR’s restaurant in Santa Ana, was a musical force waiting to happen. Opio, who with his Souls of Mischief crew was recently on Red Bull Academy Live‘s live takeover of San Francisco, said, “Both FTR and I have strong principles that are rooted in the origins of our respective genres, and bringing those two things together created something amazing.” With The Subconscious Mind, Opio and Free the Robots are exploring new lanes in music, bridging their strengths into a collaboration full of smooth rhymes, futuristic sounds, and good vibes.

Watch “Blow Sum Smoke”: http://vevo.ly/9DCO1B

Check out the Okayplayer premiere: http://www.okayplayer.com/news/opio-free-the-robots-blow-sum-smoke-video.html

Listen to The Subconscious Mind EP: https://soundcloud.com/opiohierosom/sets/the-subconscious-mind/s-Vee8I

Buy The Subconscious Mind EP on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-subconscious-mind-ep/id965939542?ls=1

Please contact Michelle or Rory if interested in talking with Opio x Free the Robots.

The Background:

Upon being introduced to Free The Robots’ music while on tour for Souls of Mischief, Opio gravitated towards FTR’s bass-heavy vibe and added his catalogue to his daily music rotation. While reading up on FTR, Opio learned that he not only is he a beatmaker but a food maker as well and when the tour roared through his hometown of Santa Ana, Opio made a point of having dinner at FTR’s restaurant, the Crosby. While at dinner with his tour-mates, producer and composer Adrian Younge and Souls of Mischief-mate, Phesto, Opio and Free The Robots got a chance to know one another. As is turns out, a lot of Free The Robots’ hip hop background had been greatly influenced by Opio, and Opio, wanting to take his solo work in a more futuristic progressive direction, found inspiration in FTR. They immediately clicked. By the end of dinner, they had plans to make a record and here it is, The Subconscious Mind EP.