OCnotes, "Radio Nat Turner" (self-released)

Absurdly prolific Seattle/Tucson, Arizona producer OCnotes (aka Otis Calvin III) finally became fed up with giving away his excellent music for free on Bandcamp, so now he's shifted to a subscription service in which $45 a year will get you everything he's released and will release, plus exclusive merch and tickets to shows he and his various bands play. It's a steal, given OC's work rate.

The Stranger Genius nominee, host of Sunday Soul (one of KEXP's best shows), and member of Sub Pop supergroup Knife Knights fuses hip-hop, soul, house, electro, and rock with an uncanny smoothness. Hearing his music, you can't help feeling like you're leading a fast break down the court in purple velour sweats.

"Radio Nat Turner" first surfaced on YouTube in 2016, but you probably missed it. OCnotes has resurrected this gem for another deserved boost into public consciousness. It's a de facto manifesto of rebellion, referencing enslaved mystical preacher Nat Turner, who, in 1831, led a mass revolt in Virginia by killing approximately 60 white people and liberating slaves. "Radio Nat Turner" is powered by a clever sample of a group whose name rhymes with Fry and the Hammily Bone; the source is a pinnacle of understated funk and soul. OCnotes zeroes in on the clipped, lo-fi drum-machine beats and guitar cry, making them cohere into a mesmerizing motif that's incredibly moving in both senses of the word. Calvin is in militant-rap mode here, rejecting other people's preaching advice and privilege (presumably from white folks), asserting his absolute independence. In the last minute, a warm, soul-enveloping keyboard drone threatens to engulf the rhythm before it fades out.

"Radio Nat Turner" made me think of '90s rap radicals X-Clan—always a good thing. Another triumph for this dark star in the Black Constellation.