With “Movie,” rapper Your Old Droog is ready to make music that’s cinematic.
After eight solo albums, three collaborative projects and 10 EPs, the Ukrainian-born, Brooklyn-bred lyricist has created what he characterizes as a “seminal” work, featuring gritty, sample-heavy production from the likes of underground stalwart Madlib (“DBZ,” featuring Method Man and Denzel Curry), hitmaker Harry Fraud (“A Damn Shame”) and Grammy-nominated veteran Just Blaze (the symphonic opener “Success & Power”). As much an act of will as of hard work, Droog — whose stage name isn’t an oblique “Clockwork Orange” homage but means its translation, “friend,” literally — manifested his latest full-length both as a statement of purpose and a gesture of solidarity for listeners looking to escape their troubles. “That’s why there’s lines where I say, ‘Just because your life is fucked up don’t mean it’s got to end that way,” he explains.
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