Featuring 19 original tracks, OddKidOut's exclusive mix for Master & Dynamic is a wide-ranging stroll down memory lane. There are hints of genres like jazz, soul, funk and blues, all given OddKidOut's signature hip-hop spin. The 10,000 asked OddKidOut a few questions about sound and creativity:
How do you define creativity?
To me, creativity is within all of us. It's the thoughts you have that others don't teach you. The thoughts that keep you up at night, both good and bad. Creativity is what, on a humanistic level, drives us. However, I feel that some people suppress creativity because it opens up layers inside themselves that may be too scary and deep to visit. Creativity is the hidden juice flowing through all of us, and the people who can harness it and make it appealable to the masses are the most successful.
What is your source of daily inspiration?
I don't necessarily think of anyone or anything as a huge driving force behind what I do. I especially look up to Pharrell, J Dilla, Madlib, Pete Rock, etc. But what inspires me the most is the ability to create art that others can benefit and just vibe to. Music is extremely cathartic, and being able to let out some of those emotions through my songs is an amazing thing. I have goals I want to achieve, so between both of those things, that's what keeps me working hard. I also just genuinely love making music and I think it's really fun.
How does sound or music make an impact on your creativity?
Well, my creativity resides in numerous things; those being photography, poetry, visuals…but music is what comes to me first and most naturally. I find that most of my creativeness resides in sonic form. When I produce or even drum, I close my eyes and oddly see things. I see lights and lines when different sounds play, and I watch the beats coming out of my hands lining up on a grid in my head. I'm not lying, it's pretty bizarre and awesome at the same time lol. But a lot of my 5 senses end up getting mixed up when I hear sounds.
Where do you go to be most creative?
I can really be creative anywhere. I mean obviously I feel most comfortable in my own space, my own studio or friends' studios. But if I see something while I'm out walking with my friend, or think of an idea in class, or write a song lyric in the car or train, it's more of a question of "what will make me feel creative," rather than where.
What are your go to creative tools?
The heart, soul, brain and arms. The crazy ideas and thoughts gestate in brain, and then get sifted through the heart and soul and out comes a representation of myself. And then those ideas either get written down, tapped out on my Maschine, played on an instrument or programmed into my computer. That's literally speaking. Metaphorically speaking, I use a tool in my brain where I interpret things in a certain way to thus induce a creative thought. I will look at an object and think about unordinary ways to describe or depict it. And I'll put things into movie scenes to capture environments and weather conditions. It's all just displacement into new realms that allow me to take common items that everyone is familiar with, and flip it into new mediums and new meanings, alike.
