As with every Oddisee record, The Iceberg adheres to a high concept; in this case he's taking aim at the tendency to accept surface-level information and forget about underlying complexities.
Much to his credit, and possibly disdain, the entire album can be enjoyed for its musicality alone; his production skills are on point as always, if a little less organic and broader-sounding than the more overtly jazz-leaning Odd Tape.
However, much like an actual iceberg, the album's true mass lies in the underlying message, which Oddisee actively encourages the listener to consider -- see opening track "Digging Deep" -- and ultimately invest in for greater reward.
Both approaches to The Iceberg seem appropriate by design; Oddisee's keen ear for both vocal and melodic hooks becomes something of a test, a challenge even, to divide those who critically analyze and those who just want to hear a good beat.
With a surface that sounds this smooth and soulful, it's easy to imagine casual listeners -- particularly those who aren't aware of Oddisee's worldview -- accepting it at face value.
This is no more exemplified than by second track "Things," with its uplifting tempo and catchy chorus belying the lyrical plea to remember that we all have relative problems to deal with.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Digging Deep | Oddisee | Play | 03:25 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | Things | Oddisee | Play | 03:46 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | Built by Pictures | Oddisee | Play | 03:56 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | Hold It Back | Oddisee | Play | 04:06 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | NNGE | Oddisee | Play | 03:51 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | Like Really | Oddisee | Play | 03:44 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | Want to Be | Oddisee | Play | 04:50 | 11 MB | 0 MB |
| 8 | This Girl I Know | Oddisee | Play | 03:37 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 9 | Waiting Outside | Oddisee | Play | 03:33 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 10 | Rain Dance | Oddisee | Play | 03:52 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 11 | Rights & Wrongs | Oddisee | Play | 03:58 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 12 | You Grew Up | Oddisee | Play | 05:05 | 11 MB | 0 MB |
| 47 mins | 109 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ahmed Akasha | Design |
| 2 | Jason Disu | Trombone |
| 3 | Daniel Luedtke | Executive Producer |
| 4 | Antoine Lyers | Photography |
| 5 | Amir Mohamed | Executive Producer |
| 6 | Oddisee | Arranger, Mixing, Primary Artist, Producer |
| 7 | Ralph Real | Keyboards, Vocals |
| 8 | Olivier St. Louis | Featured Artist, Guitar, Vocals |
| 9 | Toine | Featured Artist |
| 10 | Michael Tolle | Executive Producer |
| 11 | Dennis Turner | Bass |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |