Sometimes you need to look to the past as much as the future. With The Overview Effect, on Rucksack Records, Jermiside & The Expert have created one of the most original hip-hop records in the last decade. The album is a vast musical collage of psychedelic soundscapes merged with hip hop’s golden age. A socially conscious psychedelic hip-hop album inspired by Marvin Gaye’s narrative on ‘What’s Going On’ mixed with tripped-out beats reminiscent of Edan’s ‘Beauty & The Beat.’

The production on The Overview Effect takes on late-60s psychedelic folk/rock, viewed through a 90s b-boy mentality of heavy drums and dope breaks. Built with a keen ear for detail, The Expert (Dublin, Ireland) densely layered his productions with tons of samples, seamlessly weaved together. Swirling strings, sitars, Moogs and crunchy guitars are all present, accompanied by trippy sound effects.

“In terms of songwriting, very few songs on this record have a ‘classic song structure’,” says The Expert. “Key influences include bands like The Zombies, The Beach Boys, The Left Banke, and Love’s 1967 cult classic, Forever Changes.” The productions are also influenced by his long-time favorites including The Avalanches, RZA, Pete Rock, and Large Professor, as also shown on previous releases like The Expert’s ‘Excursions’ LP on Cold Busted.

The carefully crafted collage on the album cover reflects war, greed, injustice, racism, and social ecology. Emcee Jermiside (Atlanta, USA) paints his own picture of a broken world yet one where the power is still in our hands to change it. Stik Figa, Tanya Morgan, and Farah Elle join Jermiside on three powerful songs. The album ends on a positive note with “A Little Love” stating that ‘love conquers all.’ A closing message in line with the sampled spirit of the 60s.