Scallops Hotel

Young Scallops Hotel, aka Milo, aka Rory, aka I love this dude

I first met the music when I stumbled onto I wish my brother rob was here, then Milo Takes Baths, and then fan-boyed out when Milo sent me a Facebook message with a free download of the Things that happen.. EPs. Not only was the dude mad nice as a human, but TTHAD/TTHAN solidified his place as a new, prolific and important voice amongst other already incredibly smart, talented and established guys like Busdriver, Open Mike Eagle, and Nocando.

Like many clever, verbose artists before him, he had another alias aside from the now newly loved & established Milo. Who the fuck was Scallops Hotel, what the hell did that even mean, and am I getting to old to know what's happening?!

Thankfully my panic attack subsided and I found that it was Milo poking at Clams Casino's odd artist name, by forming his own project where he stood as producer and rapper named Scallops Hotel. After unleashing a very dope EP in 2013 (Poplar Grove) he is back as Scallops, but this time he stretched the mind into 12 blending, glorious tracks of tangental life musings.

-"Don't come around talking bout your skills you should demonstrate. Don't come around taking bout you hunt, where's the dinner plate? Don't come around talking bout you on, you been late" -

Scallops don't care about your angle at all on "Gnosis, black nationalism, Rice". He doesn't care about you trying to flex, but he cares about you as a human and goes to great lengths to relate his experience in life as an artist and black man on the album.

-"Understand anxiety is the dizziness of freedom"-

By now you've possibly heard "Lavender Chunk" with Future Islands' Hemlock Ernst rapping his ass off alongside Scallops who's hook claims "Brothers like him don't live too long...". While it's not Chuck D telling you about his Uzi, this could be Scallops subtly referencing the life expectancy of black men these days, and that's just as chilling and sad.

This is a stripped down version of Milo/Rory in that he aimed at doing what the title suggests, and that's plainly speak, without some of the abstract layers found on his previous albums.

When "The Oprah Winfrey Show" begins with Scallops repeating "we'll make our way out.." And eventually drifts into references to Pulp Fiction and storage you realize it's possible Rory is speaking hope into the body of people sick of being murdered for their skin tone. There's also the brief but dope "Ticktocker (Henry Dumas' Words)" that indirectly speaks to the same thoughts.

Or I'm reading too much into it maybe. But I'm not, am I?

12 songs deep, with a few either repeating a mantra of sorts "Sabil's Lullaby", or sick verse that blends into music, like on "Tense Present" which then floats into lingering hums and Scallops saying "I'm OK if you're OK. Since you're OK, I'm OK." I'm left wondering where that can be taken to, and what exactly he was saying in those lines.

What I love about Milo/Scallops Hotel is that he writes specifically, but because there are some brushes of abstraction you can take from it what you think he means. You might be right you might be wrong. You might just love his music because he has a calming fun delivery and tone and occasionally references cartoons, Freestyle Fellowship, and philosophy. No matter why you've drifted into the world of Scallops Hotel, the fact that his art is here, and loved and shared is the most exciting thing to watch.

Cheers to you, and your Ruby Yacht Rory.

Favorite Songs So Far: "Gnosis, black nationalism, Rice", "Lavender Chunk", "Roc Marciano Riff Suite 1", "Tense Present"