Hip Hop Habit: IbnTheWeirdO
posted in: Artist Features • Urban
Some people just aren’t born to be team players. That’s not to say they’re incapable of getting along well with others, it just means”at least in any artistic realm”that their ideas and the emotions behind them are too bold to allow for any compromise. It may be a lonely journey, but the small percentage of artists who push forward with such vision end up being the names we all remember on down the road. With a stage name that contains TheWeirdO, Ibn (pronounced “ibbon”) makes it clear that mainstream and/or social compatibility is not what he’s aiming for. Such a moniker does however, before any of his material is ever heard, allude to the notion that perhaps his music is just weird enough to stand out in a good way. In that regard, he does not disappoint.
This week’s HHH featured artist comes from the same midwestern metropolis, more specifically from the city’s storied south side, as two of hip hop’s brightest luminaries”Kanye West and Lupe Fiasco. So, it should also come as no surprise that Ibn, a product of the same environment and someone who openly admires both aforementioned artists, would be of a similar breed.
His skeletal biography mentions a past rap group effort that fell through, the leftover bitterness of which can be heard in introductory talking points like I stay to myself, and verse lines like I never slow down but I cruise so lonely/ Hopin’ that these photoshop dudes don’t clone me in beginning of Free My Mind. As its title suggests, the song”with its forlorn, warning siren guitar lick and temporary resolutions”sounds as if it’s running from something; a desolate highway anthem built for outlaws trying to escape their own anxieties. For TheWeirdO, the crossroads arrives as the song turns down the final stretch and he rhymes I wonder where I’m goin’ cause this life is such a maze and I’m kinda stuck lookin’ both ways/ Cars comin’, lights go four ways/ No stop signs, only road rage. For all his declared independence, Ibn ends Free My Mind still fiercely solo but tangled up in more self reflection than can be healthy for anyone.
The remedy isn’t far behind. Like many deliberate outsiders, Ibn finds exception and therefore solace to his proud autonomy in love. And through love, he realizes that he might not be so different from the pack after all. Circles, a breezy tune studded with a beat more at home in ‘
80s snare reverb land, not only highlights the welcome versatility and polarizing nature of Ibn’s content, but also proves our young emcee has a soft spot as well. Beginning as a narrative of failed romance, Ibn comes around to step down off his towering pedestal, admitting I guess I’m parallel to the same dudes hurtin’ you. Yet as mature as this realization and the succeeding acknowledgement are, what’s even more impressive is the fact that Ibn’s realized the ever-evolving nature of the human personality, cleverly wrought in the song’s theme Circles what we go around/ Never go up¦or down.
Maybe he’s finally got it all figured out, or maybe he’s just as confused if not more than before. Whatever the verdict is, you’ll be able to decide for yourself with the upcoming release of his anticipated Mixtape, Me Soon. Check for more on that in the future, and let us know if you can relate to Ibn in the comments!