Hip-Hop/Metal Duo C Trip A Dip into “Thought Streams” (premiere)

C Trip A brings together Christian Alexander (Christian McKenna of End Christian et al.) and Anthony Adams. The pair’s album, Ozzy Nights, arrives 26 June via Translation Loss and marks the venerable label’s first foray into hip-hop and metal crossover. Ozzy Nights features guest appearances from Colin Marston (Gorguts, Dysrhythmia), Alap Momin (BKGD Audio, dälek) and, on “Thought Streams” Liz Ndichu (Ndichu).

McKenna recalls or rather does not recall the tune’s origins. “I don’t really remember making this song or the majority of the record for that matter,” he says. “A good friend of mine and I were talking the other day, and he said that’s how it’s supposed to be… kinda like an ‘out of body’ experience. That’s how art is supposed to grow in some ways. Anyways, we just kind of jammed this one out together. Ant’s cadence to this one is great; it’s relaxed, rhythmic and his voice sounds great. The song is very meditative and just does its thing. We really appreciate Liz Ndichu for doing some backups on this one. That girl can like really sing. I’m thrilled to be working with Anthony and for his openness, for starting this sonic adventure with me. We have a lot of stuff planned and feel like we’re just getting started.”

What the pair have achieved here is to remind us of hip-hop’s dissonant edges, its ability to be heavier than a weighty thing, and metal’s penchant for the weird, outré, the avant-garde. It’s not an unsettling marriage but rather a steady and sensible one and one we can hope that we’ll hear these two expand upon in the future.

Ozzy Nights was mixed, mastered, produced, and engineered by McKenna (The Brazilian Gentleman, End Christian, New Age Grate, C Trip A) and Colin Marston (Gorguts, Dysrhythmia, Krallice, Behold…The Arctopus).