Illogic has been one of the mainstays of the Columbus hip hop scene for years, but has been mostly known as an emcee during that time. Most recently, he collaborated with San Jose producer/emcee/vocalist Lucid Optics to release the fantastic Lucid Logic album in 2017. After all of his accomplishments, Illogic managed to still find a way to do something he hasn’t done before, releasing his first self-produced EP, The Beauty of Evolution: Vol. 1.

While this is the first time we’re getting a self-produced project from Illogic, it sounds so natural, you’ll wonder why we haven’t gotten this before. There are a couple of tracks with vocals, but the majority of the seven tracks are instrumental. All of the tracks have the feel of free-flowing sessions, with abstract beats that unfold at a casual pace, with Illogic taking his time to explore the space of each composition. It’s a project that’s best listened to on headphones, where you can really lose yourself into the gradually expanding sounds of these midtempo and downtempo beats. My personal favorite on the EP is “Piano Cries,” which crosses over into a dub area that works really well alongside the rest of Illogic’s beats. In fact, it felt so natural, it made me wonder why we haven’t gotten a dub project from him before. Perhaps we’ll get one in the future? Who knows. What I do know is that Illogic still finds a way to expand his repertoire in interesting ways well into his career.

Illogic has accomplished a lot in his career, but he still finds ways to keep things fresh and interesting. His first self-produced EP works so well, you’ll wonder why he hasn’t been doing this all along.