Sprawling and searching for truth, Hella Personal Film Festival is another excellent Open Mike Eagle album, and if it doesn't entice those with short attention spans, that's their loss.
For the most part, this is an album that boasts both accessible sonics and lyrical labyrinths. That means (unlike many of Eagle's earlier releases) Hella is an easy LP to get drawn into and (just like all of his other releases) it's also a joyous adventure to get lost in.
This collection is as heavy, thoughtful and laborious as anything Mike Eagle has released to date, but luckily he’s reached a place where he can withstand indie Hip Hop’s glass ceiling.
Hella Personal Film Festival adds to Eagle’s great streak of magnetic material, though he didn’t make it alone.
Festival is refreshingly cohesive, exploring varied themes without drifting off-course. Then again, that’s not saying much for Eagle and White, who’ve long established their own unique lanes. These songs foreshadow a much larger story, one that only these two can tell.
Open Mike Eagle’s momentum has raised anticipation for his fifth collaborative full-length (and ninth album altogether), Hella Personal Film Festival, this time made with British producer and vocalist Paul White. But he doesn’t quite scale up his political and personal concerns. Instead, he gives us more modest delights.
#33 | / | Passion of the Weiss |