EarthGang: Mirrorland (original) (raw)

One of the most impressive feats of Donald Glover’s surrealist FX show Atlanta is how it captures the sheer multiplicity of the city’s many characters. The dope dealer turned rising rapper is managed by his homeless Princeton dropout cousin, whose Afro-German girlfriend is a grade-school science teacher with a homegirl who scams pro athletes; it’s on and on like that down to the most minor roles. Atlanta has often been dubbed Black Mecca, in part for the wide swath of black identities it fosters. Among the inheritors of this broad lineage is EarthGang, an ATL duo comprised of rappers Olu (also known as Johnny Venus) and WowGr8 (also known as Doctur Dot), founders of the wide-ranging Spillage Village collective that includes J.I.D., 6LACK, Mereba, Lute, and more. Their debut album, Mirrorland, released on the heels of their Dreamville label’s touted compilation Revenge of the Dreamers III, longs to be a black world unto itself.

Mirrorland was inspired by The Wiz, the all-black 1978 adaptation of The Wizard of Oz featuring music produced by Quincy Jones for Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, and Lena Horne. “Atlanta is the Land of Oz,” Olu said in July. “It’s black people just being unafraid and unapologetically creative. Just running around being themselves.” The album certainly has the whimsy and spectacle of a musical, and it’s clear Olu and WowGr8 consider themselves unapologetically creative, too, but there is the sense that this is less about them and more about honoring that down-home creative spark. There is a theatricality to the music, as if they are donning personas and performing bits, paying homage to the many types of people they encounter and the place that produces them. The scope of Mirrorland is wide enough to capture the inexhaustible magic of Atlanta.

The songs on Mirrorland are clear attempts to chart the city’s diverse sound. They are rich and constantly shifting and evolving. Produced by Olu, Elite, DJ Dahi, Bink!, Childish Major, and others, this is EarthGang’s most complete record and their most unpredictable one. It is as captivating as it is unusual. When the songs don’t erupt into full-on parades like the groovy hoodoo opener “LaLa Challenge,” they split open into alternate arrangements, like “This Side,” its rippling synths receding to uncover slapping drum programming. The album can swing from funk-rap to trap so quickly that it almost inherently reveals how these styles trace back to the same roots. The shifts are anchored by the two rappers, who dictate the flow with their larger-than-life styles and their flamboyant execution. Some of that performance is at the expense of more personal songwriting. There’s nothing as reflective as the songs on their EP trilogy, Rags, Robots, and Royalty. In place of rapping that communicates more of their individual identities, madcap demonstration takes the fore.