Bart Oatmeal x ICECOLDBISHOP "Politickin'"

Sometimes a track comes out of nowhere and just grabs your eyes, ears, and mind. In hip hop today, you need to pull all of the levers to get listeners to not only peep your track for more than 5 seconds but also go a level up and follow you on Spotify… then they need to follow you on IG… This is a lot to ask a listener if you can get them to leave Spotify and go to IG, you’re winning. For me, I’m a big album art guy. I need a few seconds of a beat I mess with, then if the art catches me, I will stay on for at least the first verse. That art could be consumed across a wide array of social channels so don’t be scared to go outside the box… The MadeinTYO track with Ferg called “Ned Flanders” checked all of the boxes for me. Dope beat… Dope art… Dope emceeing.

Some other tracks that come to mind are “Mr. Big” from Eightball & MJG… that album cover for Comin’ Out Hard has forever inspired me to do better. And if you don’t know Eightball & MJG I would like to you to drop what you’re doing and just peep… You won’t get the time back but the rest of your life you’ll have a new favorite track…

You can’t mention the Eightball & MJG cover without mentioning The Clipse on their cover art for Lord Willin’ and Gucci Mane for his cover art on Drop Top Wop. Yeah I got you on 2 tracks so you can pick up what I’m throwing down.

I’ll forever be a fan of inspiring album covers that blur the lines of rap and art. Because fam… Let’s just agree that we’re out of the rap scene. The term “rapper” marginalizes creatives into a box. Artists like Griselda turned every project drop into an event and I think Westside Gunn might be one of the best rappers alive… wait… hold that thought… he ain’t one of the best rappers alive. He is one of the best artists out right now. Musicians can’t be about chasing the streams anymore… Make some art fam… Get a core fanbase who f*cks with you through and through.

Just take A Tribe Called Quest for example… Sure they had the best production around and the most well-rounded crew of emcees all around them… But their style? Their music videos? Their album artwork? ATCQ were modern day Van Gogh’s and before you try to debate me just stop…. you’re not going to win. Q-Tip did way more than Van Gogh did… Van Gogh’s art doesn’t come with a soundtrack… That means I’m out. Sorry… Give me Q-Tip’s vision over Michelangelo every day of the week.

For all my crew out there that had that ATCQ CD, you know how dope it really was with that modified CD case. I just like when artists use captivating imagery or art to convey their message to the world. Shout out to Mac Miller on his mixtape, Faces and the amazing artwork as well. I’ve probably looked at the piece 200 times and I still don’t feel I’m close to grasping it. Most Dope.

My time is very limited. That is what happens when you’re hustling and have a young family depending on you to break break and get that backyard one day. My music listening lately has mostly been tracks we got coming out this year… But when I do get the time to scroll Spotify a bit, I’m looking to find artists that I can simply rely on for my music fix each week. Artists like Curren$y, Larry June, and Jay Worthy are artists that I know I can count on for a vibe… That is what rap is now… A vibe. Or at least that is what rap is to me. If I see a new Curren$y album, I just have to see that art and know I’ll f*ck with it. That’s legal dope right there… smells good… looks good… tastes good.

So here I am scrolling Spotify recently and my Release Radar whipped me up some heat that was completely unexpected. I saw the artwork and didn’t even care what the music was like because the art bruh…

The palm tree on fire lookin like a match? That dinosaur? The steam off of the oatmeal? The cop car all busted up… the ghetto birds… you see, this is art. The music is only a nice companion piece to the story in this one piece of art. Who in the hell is Bart Oatmeal? He skates and eats oatmeal? Bruh… Let’s kick it?

So who is Bart Oatmeal? sheeeeeeeeeeeeeet……………… Bart Oatmeal is the alter-ego birthed from the creative mind of former NBA star, Baron Davis. Despite not being a skater, Bart Oatmeal embodies Baron Davis's boundary-pushing vision just like he did in the late 90’s with UCLA. You remember Baron on the court right? Rigghhhht???

Hol up… you remember how unique his game was right?? You do realize that practicing ball skills with basketball is very similar to perfecting skate tricks right? That probably went over your head but when I found out that Bart Oatmeal was Baron Davis my mind was blown. Absolutely blown… Fam… Watching Baron play the way he did showed me all I needed to know. Baron could be successful at anything with his style on the court.

Damn… I lost my train of thought… oh wait… got it… the artwork for the Bart Oatmeal album, Steel Cut? Wow… But turn up the volume and you got somewhat of a Evidence slow flow type delivery from Bart. It works… And who is on the beats here? Is that Bart too??? This album is solid and it wouldn’t have caught me if it wasn’t for the art. Like Nas said, “Made You Look” and that terms rings loud right now for me. Just peep the track “Politickin’” with ICECOLDBISHOP and tell me it’s not top 3 dropped this year… Baron Davis with ICB? ICB on a craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazy chorus too… this is nothin but digital pimpin fam…. peep…. politiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiickin…..