The parallels between comedy and music are evident. You need clever wordplay, proper delivery, and perfect timing and no one connects those dots quite like Chicago emcee Open Mike Eagle. The veteran, multi-faceted artist has been combining the two art forms effortlessly for roughly two decades, stringing them together through witty punchlines and meticulous concept albums.
While Open Mike Eagle has always used music to articulate his comedic writing, his past two releases have been a little more somber. 2017’s Birck Body Kids Still Daydream and 2020’s Anime, Trauma and Divorce had Open Mike Eagle exploring a new area of his songwriting and creating more of a melancholy feeling. We saw the artist begin to explore more minimalistic sonics on his 2014 album Dark Comedy, but the two aforementioned albums had him diving headfirst into a dreary sound. On his latest release, Component System With The Auto Reverse, Open Mike Eagle looks to combine these two elements into one while paying homage to the hip-hop radio shows he grew up listening to. Through 14-tracks, he pulls from every aspect of his career so far for coherent, controlled chaos.
CSWTAR feels like the culmination of Open Mike Eagle’s eclectic catalog. You first notice a change in his approach simply through the tone of his voice. He expands on his signature delivery with refreshing melodies and lively flows while also exploring more monotone cadences. OME makes bouncing between tones on an album look easy, switching between cartoonish raps and unshakable directness. Just look at the juxtaposition between tracks three and four, the first, “79th and Stony Island”, contains an infectious high energy delivery while the second, “I’ll Fight You” features a more stoic and melodic tone of voice. Open Mike Eagle’s ability to seamlessly string these two worlds together is what makes CSWTAR such an intriguing album.
OME improved on all fronts for his latest release, but none more than his songwriting. Lyrically, he is sharper than ever, the album is filled with his signature wit but not without delivering introspective thoughts with equal gusto. Within the 40-minute runtime of the album, he goes from describing himself as a “middle-aged poster child” to penning a heartfelt letter to one of his rap heroes. “For DOOM” is a shining example of the more serious approach OME has been exploring in his recent releases, within the song the artist reflects on his relationship with the late MF DOOM while also harkening back to DOOM’s signature complex rhyme schemes. The well-executed concept of this song sticks out as one of Open Mike Eagle’s best songs of his career.
While Open Mike Eagle’s discography is storied and lengthy, including his collaborative efforts, he has a natural knack to keep things sounding fresh. On CSWTAR, he sounds like a brand new man, still being able to find comedy in trauma while simultaneously exploring the darker side of those events. OME sounds more confident in his abilities as a pure rapper and pulls from his wide array of influences to craft some of his best work yet. On the song “Thirsty Ego Raps” from his 2014 album Dark Comedy, Open Mike Eagle said “I’m trying to have no missteps in my discography”, and since then he hasn’t. Component System With The Auto Reverse has OME at his best, whether he is diving into his personal life or simply crafting clever rap verses, the seasoned artist hits it out of the park every chance he gets. This album adds to what is already a legendary career and further proves that whichever direction Open Mike Eagle decides to take his art in, he is going to make it look easy.
