Otem Rellik

Part Tool, part Tim Burton, part Mr. Aegis, and part those mismatched tinkering toys under Sid’s bed, Otem Rellik possesses a particular brand of genius. I’m not sure what brand it is. I doubt he does either. But it is undeniable. 

“Negative Space’s” video is a stop-motion animated tale of finding oneself, achievement, and aging as a big-armed clumsy but benevolently gentle creature grows old. Melancholy, but childlike chords, give way to a building anthemic grind and a monumental chorus. The whole thing manages to be inspiring and somehow sad. 

Rappers be like:

Fuck you, Otem Rellik, for stirring up all these complex and competing emotions. Dick! All I wanted was bitches and hoes, man. And now I’m over here leaking salty water out my face. 

Otem Rellik inhabits this space, part emotive hip hop, part indie electronic, but wholly created by Otem Rellik and for the most part undisturbed. I imagine seeing his studio as he takes me in a hot balloon basket tied to ropes strung through repurposed pulleys down a mine shaft in some preatomic lab past an old submarine door buried near an undetected, tap into the city’s power grid. But in real life I’m pretty sure he’s got a basement in Colorado somewhere covered in snow and circuits and wires. I still one day wanna see it though. 

His new record is aptly titled, unbroken&unheard, is available here and has special packages including ones including Otem Rellik designed 3D printed synth toys. And after seeing what blood he’s left on the floor for it, I will be loudly playing it, very soon. Maybe even while playing with my new toy.