It’d be shortsighted to suggest that Open Mike Eagle’s strengths exist solely in his albums’ themes, but Brick Body Kids Still Daydream’s poignant biographing of Chicago project life, and Anime, Trauma and Divorce’s anime, trauma and divorce at least give some credence to: the stronger the concept, the stronger the album. DOOMED, the rapper’s first full collaboration with longtime producer pal Kenny Segal, is a breakup album with some self-asserted whimsy on Mike’s part. Unafraid to bare weakness, Mike Eagle continues to spill the kind of real life guts one may only find in rap’s underground, keeping it real in great difference to the mainstream’s AI-seeking windup toys.
Many of us are constantly on the hunt for something relatable. We’re all likely to experience heavy breakups at some point in our lives, and Mike displays the world-changing pain of a breakup with great authenticity on the second verse of Out to Lunch, having just no-sold the breakup on the first. He crumbles, rapping “you can’t hear me ‘cause I’m crying, can’t feel me ‘cause I’m sad / I gave that shit all that I had / I watched her favourite shows, I made small talk with her dad” as momentous trumpets swell from the track’s framework, kicking up the emotion in a touching moment of rapper-producer empathy. Kenny has Mike’s back; the main keyboard line of Don’t Go Look (Battleworld Focus Prayer) melodically creeps like Mike’s urge to check his phone and check up on his ex. He gets over himself on the title track’s outro, stops fronting, starts listing movies he had to see on his own. He knows there will always be a sense of whimsy or frightening humour stemming from even his breakdowns. Open Mike Eagle is a captivating man.
Much of the album relates to Mike’s breakup, though some tracks refer primarily to conversations, memories and subtler domino effects. The level of soul-baring is palpable regardless of how upfront or downplayed the subject matter; Unfinished Concrete Initials in particular boasts a remarkable amount of emotional momentum, as Mike weeps, hulks up, then Hemlock Ernst does the same, bonding with the emotional weight – half-devastating, half-uplifting – Segal packs the song with. It might be Hemlock Ernst’s best performance on a rap song. Trying to Remember What I Aimed At is a new one for Mike’s ever-growing list of sensitive career highlights, thanks to a lovely combination of singing and soft rapping, while Watching a Movie Called Freedom by Myself forms as a despondent finale that basically just says “it’s over”, you know, you can leave now, that’s it.
I’ll say it again; Open Mike Eagle is a captivating man. Ignore the sensitivity of DOOMED and you’ll be left with a less worthwhile album, but holy shit if Mike doesn’t have something surreal or dexterous to offer even when he isn’t ripping his own heart out. The Irredeemable Magic Man’s outro never fails to make me laugh – “I did see he gave somebody horse legs on the way out. They had regular people legs and then he gave them horse legs. That was especially messed up. I don’t know how this person’s gonna get home”. His softly swaying hook on Streets of Rage: Public Arguments Edition – “tap X to jump and hold back to block” – is one of the album’s nerdy best, hearing him list off the titular hustles of The Many Hustles of My Lonely Time Travelling Uncle is a pleasure, and when he takes a break, here comes Billy Woods to kill it on She Swear I’m Colourblind.
The latter portion of the album does focus too much on shorter songs that feel undercooked by comparison, though the It Happens in Every Universe interlude is a nice inclusion – it’s several snippets of women discussing their breakups. But even on the album’s lulls, Mike stays real, and Kenny Segal continues to capture his heartache with crumbling jazz soundscapes, bred from live instrumentation and loops. The duo’s past collaborations proved DOOMED an album worth being excited for, but I don’t think anybody expected such an emotional brotherhood.
Best tracks – Out to Lunch – Unfinished Concrete Initials – Trying to Remember What I Aimed At.
Rating – 8 out of 10
