ICEFACE & Montana Macks "Odyssey" [ALBUM]

 01. Chess Not Checkers

02. Dead Poets

03. Brain Hustle

04. Float (feat. Rich Jones & Recoechi)

05. Down for a While (feat. greenSLLIME)

06. Stuck Your Ways

07. Devil's Advocate

08. East St. Paul

09. Remember Them Days

10. Step By Step

Chicago rap vet ICEFACE teams up with old friend and acclaimed producer Montana Macks on his personal journey, The Odyssey.

ICEFACE has been a vital member of Chicago’s vibrant hip-hop scene dating back to the early 2010s, with his work featured by FakeShoreDrive, TheseDays, Elevator, and others. His early years saw him collaborate with local standouts such as The O’My’s and Zack Wicks, and he leveraged those successes into earning writing/production credits on songs with SZA’s “Normal Girl” and Vic Mensa and Chance the Rapper’s 2021 collab with Wyclef “Shelter (Acoustic Version)”.

His impressive track record unfortunately has included several setbacks in his professional and personal life. These struggles throughout the last 15 years serve as the intensely personal and honest subject matter of his latest album, The Odyssey, an epic 10-track album with longtime friend and acclaimed producer Montana Macks.

ICEFACE and Montana Macks first met during a freestyle session at a party thrown by mutual friends and Chicago mainstays, The O’My’s in the mid-2010s. After realizing they shared similar influences – drawn from the ‘90s and early ‘00s east coast hip-hop – the two discussed working together. While it took nearly 10 years for them to finally link up, they created some of the most inspired work in their respective catalogs.

“A dead poet once said life is what you make it,” ICE raps on standout cut “Dead Poets”, a verse that could serve as the project’s thesis statement. “See an opportunity, better take it. Patience is key, time is too valuable to be wasted. Dodging federal charges only through Allah’s graces. PTSD got me sippin’ whiskey straight with no chaser. Old cold cases got me up at night, thinking like, ‘Is there really a Heaven for a gangsta?’ Laying in a Cook County bunk with shoes laced up.”

Throughout The Odyssey, ICEFACE is at his most reflective and introspective, rhyming with the urgency of Beanie Siegel on his 2005 cult classic The B. Coming. On lead single “Float”, ICE teams up with new Closed Sessions signee Recoechi, who delivers a high energy verse that pairs nicely with ICE’s cool, laid back flow, and frequent Montana Macks collaborator Rich Jones, whose soulful hook over Macks’ eerie production is another highlight.

ICEFACE is the most vulnerable on tracks like “Stuck in Your Ways,” when he raps: “Grew up with next to nothing, always knew I wanted more / Seen a little light in the streets, knew there was more in store”. While he tackles a lot of weighty topics throughout the record, he offers just as much hope and inspiration. He celebrates the joy of overcoming hard times on “Down for a While”, which features a dynamic verse from GreenSllime, one of FACE’s strongest advocates.

About the artists:

The Odyssey was recorded concurrently with ICEFACE and Slime’s excellent 2024 collaborative EP, Wolves Eat Goats, which included features from Qari, MfN Melo, and Boldy James. ICE’s discog spans 15-plus years and includes the Drip God Sosa series, Hotboy In a Blizzard (2023), and Alhamdulillah (2021).

The Odyssey is Montana Macks’ first collaborative project since 2022’s Happy Medium with Jyroscope and How do you sleep at night? in 2020 with Rich Jones. He’s also released instrumental projects such as 2022’s Paul and 2020’s Arrivals & Departures. Montana Macks was named Best Hip-Hop Producer by Chicago Reader 2022.