The nomadic emcee known as Offsite who once lived in Wisconsin has now relocated to Maine to be with those involved with Ruby Yacht and now Soulfolks Records. Over his last three releases, Offsite had been working through the loss of a close friend. Now he moves on to the bigger picture of himself as he grapples with his alternate personality, Hex.

Hex feels a little more like a mixtape than an album, and I mean that the way the term mixtape used to be applied, with snippets of different beats flowing together and emcees hopping off and on the mic. In truth, this project is probably more in the grey area between that and your more traditional album, but you get the general idea. The production on this project is credited to Grandmaster Hex, with raps credited to Offsite, so you get a bit of a yin and yang to the recordings, with the beats becoming bigger and bolder than the more ethereal and introspective sounds of his past projects. Working in this style allows Offsite to step outside of himself a bit, allowing him to talk more shit and get sillier with his rhymes, while still hanging on to his natural inclination to ask the larger philosophical questions of life. It also encourages him to get more melodic with his flow, reminding me a touch of Slimkid Tre with the high register and nasal quality of his voice. He’s also joined by many of his friends, including Dunzo, Pink Navel, Mars Bremen, and Safari Al, giving the project a bit of a crew feel, and once again adding this fun element that allows Offsite to get back to the essence of just having fun, feeling like he’s stepping into a cypher and rhyming his ass off. Offsite is a great emcee, and his releases from the last year are beautiful and necessary, but it’s also great to see him bounce back with something that’s just so fun to listen to.

Hex is a different release in the discography of Offsite, and it’s a welcome addition. We’ve gotten plenty of introspective and intimate projects out of him, which are all great to listen to on your headphones when you need some time to get inside your head. Now, we’ve gotten a project out of Offsite that’s big and bold and fun, and sounds great blasting out of your speakers.