OK eX never really went away — last year’s “Bend the Blocc” freestyle is criminally under-viewed — but he’s finally returned with a new EP, Brainiac, his best showing since 2013. With a major label deal come and gone, the Crown Heights MC thankfully hasn’t lost his indelible sense of humor or inimitable tone of voice. To my ear, he’s one of the most replayable rappers out.
In the video for “Bebop and Rocksteady,” a collaboration with Queens’s Meyhem Lauren, Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire wears a custom denim jacket reading “Too hood for the nerds, too weird for the thugs,” which you know is kinda true about him, but that's why he's so special. I asked him where he’s been, and he just said, “I've been recording. I'll let my music do the talking for me, and as you’re going to see, there’s a lot of that coming.” Great news.
Take a trip in the time machine and revisit this magazine profile from 2011.