Hieroglyphics Rapper Opio and L.A. Beat Scene Vet Free the Robots Team Up For First Single From Debut Album, Premiered by RESPECT Mag

MP3: Opio x Free the Robots – “Point of View”

The Hieroglyphics MC and LA Beat Scene Vet Announce Sempervirens Album With Infectious, Boom-Bap Single, Premiered by RESPECT

07.28.2015

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 Song:

The first single from Souls of Mischief/Hieroglyphics rapper/producer Opio and L.A. beat scene vet Free the Robots’ Sempervirens is a funky, boom-bap track that finds the MC throwing boastful jabs of apathy at egomaniacal peers. Premiered by RESPECT Mag, “Point of View” has a nostalgic, looping breakbeat and repetitious bass lick, as Opio flaunts “she thinks she’s Erykah Badu” and he “thinks that he’s Ice Cube” on the song’s chorus before inviting “the one with the Hiero tattoo” to chill. The rapper/producer describes “Point of View” as “the song that I had the most fun recording. FTR and a bunch of my homies were with me in the studio and we were all sitting around talking shit and cracking jokes and those conversations manifested themselves into the lyrics. I really like the pacing of this track, the chorus and the verses mesh seamlessly, it’s just one of those songs that never gets old.”

In March, Opio and Free the Robots shared The Subconscious Mind EP, their first collaborative release, via Red Bull, who praised the project as “four intergalactic songs shaped by Free the Robots’ ominous bass-heavy beats and Opio’s syrupy rhymes.” They followed the EP with the release of a mystical video for it’s lead single, “Blow Sum Smoke,” which debuted via Okayplayer in June, labeling it a “tune of a staggering and wispy production that’ll certainly find a place in the score to your evening’s unwinding ceremonies.” Outside of their solo and other group work, Opio and Free the Robots began experimenting together last year, merging their respective skills on production hardware as seen in their Delicious Vinyl TV session. In September, they’ll be releasing Sempervirens, their debut album as a duo.

Listen to “Point of View”: https://soundcloud.com/opiohierosom/point-of-view

Check out the RESPECT premiere: http://respect-mag.com/2015/07/premier-opio-free-the-robots-point-of-view/

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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.