OldBoy Rhymes and DJ Pain 1 are releasing Regime Change on November 2 the day before the US midterms and the timing is the argument. Ten tracks, produced by Pain 1, with Sage Francis, Wordsworth, Skyzoo, Blueprint, Illogic and Rituals of Mine. It's Rhymes' first full-length collaboration with Pain 1, and it arrives through Strange Famous, Sage Francis' label. The lead track is called "Political Rapper," and Rhymes explains the title rather than defending it. He and Sage Francis were once asked by a podcast host whether they were "political rappers." Rather than deflect, he made it a song. His stated reasoning: "My first professionally released song was 'Master Cleanse,' which dropped in February 2024, only 3 months after the genocide in Gaza, when it wasn't popular to take such a position. The naked corruption, war profiteering, Christian nationalism, and overall indifference to human suffering domestically and abroad has only accelerated since then." He also frames the record against his previous album: "My last album 'Curly Head' was almost entirely introspective and personal. So, as runaway greed pushes the US further into decline, I wanted to drop a project that expresses where my head and heart are at politically." His closing line is the one that keeps the record honest: "I definitely don't have the answers, but I do have the words." The track Five minutes, three MCs, no chorus to rest on. Rhymes opens on shell companies and corporate donations and refuses to pick a side "Liberal, conservatives, Democrats, independents, Republicans / News sites lying, independently publishing." Skyzoo takes the second verse and does what he always does, which is make an argument sound effortless: "Congress criminal actors got visual actors captured." Wordsworth closes. What separates this from most protest rap is the refusal to claim special authority. Rhymes has spent, by his own account, more than half his life outside the United States, and he says plainly that he thinks most Americans "have good intentions" while being caught in "late stage capitalism, which prioritizes profit, and near-term shareholder returns, over people." That's a harder and more generous position than the usual denunciation. Regime Change is out November 2. CD pre-orders are open through Strange Famous.
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