Portland’s NorthernDraw, producer and DJ, spent the past three years accomplishing an MA in cultural studies while crafting a multi-lingual, international album with Munich rapper LeoLex. The project, Crow Bref(2023), showcases Draw’s many skills, including sample collaging, beat production, scratching and rhyming. This comes off the heels of instrumental collaborative project with Oakland’s Joe Mousepad, Quid Pro Quo. Creator and of Thirsty City, the local label and nine year deep monthly producer showcase, Draw brings his global experience back home to continue uniting like-minded souls through the avenue of sound. In his long career, he’s shared bills with prominent hip-hop and electronic artists such as Blockhead, Devonwho, Ayatollah, MNDSGN, Jel, Bad Snacks, and members of Living Legends. Instrumental future beats, classic boombap loops, dusty cassette ambience intertwined with drum and bass tempos are some of the many flavors NorthernDraw brings to dance clubs in Germany, skateparks in the PNW, hip-hop clubs in California and venues throughout the world. Draw embarks on his first East Coast this Spring.
NorthernDraw has Thirsty City, a monthly musician showcase in Portland for over a decade. “We want to thank all of the artists and attendees over the years for all the love and good vibes,” … adding that for nine years now, the series has been “coming together monthly to share our appreciation for kicks, snares, synths, and samples.”
A live show. An international tour. A late-night drive through Portland. A visit to the site of the Kent State Massacre. The maps charted through Novel Path, the short but mighty new EP from Lt Headtrip and NorthernDraw, branch out across time and space, but all converge in our protagonists’ heads. It’s a list of metro stops along the astral plane, train doors opening to reveal telepathic kittens and sudden 40-story drops. You can smell the streets of Queens and climb over the rubble of the destroyed stages Headtrip and Draw leave in their wake. Novel Path is a psychedelic journey deeply rooted in place, even if that place is the ether.
Lt Headtrip, founder of Karma Kids, is a dynamic performer. He raps with an elastic Midwestern twang, his voice sometimes presenting as a low, menacing growl, other times squeezing through percussion like a rubber ball under a hydraulic press. Verses that initially read as abstract puzzles click into place to reveal a simple existential truth: It’s all about the experience. Armed with a crate of records and a dusty sampler, Northern Draw crafts beats that feel like they’ve existed forever, each lived-in loop cycling like a locked groove. The production on Novel Path is warm and radiant, all rounded edges and thick, rubbery bass.
Headtrip and Draw have a natural chemistry, working on the songs in close quarters during the three years Headtrip lived in Portland, Oregon. Artists from around the world show up, rapping or singing in Swedish, German, Arabic, and French. The legendary Rob Sonic (Sonic Sum, Definitive Jux, Hail Mary Mallon) appears with a typically outstanding verse before retreating into the mist. Though it represents a tone shift for Headtrip — it’s lighter and funkier than anything he’s done before — it’s still densely packed and begging to be decoded. It’s much bigger than its 19 minutes, a richly detailed exploration of how location and identity meet.
Dash Lewis (Stereogum, Pitchfork, Bandcamp)
Emcee Lt Headtrip and producer NorthernDraw combined their talents to create a new EP called “Novel Path.” Path is a bit of a departure from Headtrip’s normally raucous releases. Draw’s laid-back production allows Headtrip to relax on the tracks without sacrificing his lyrical dexterity.
“This EP is great. It’s definitely one of the most accessible releases I’ve heard from Headtrip, and a lot of that is due to the chill, melodic instrumentals from NorthernDraw. These beats are what some may refer to as “cool vibes.” Despite being just under 20 minutes long, this is one of the most replayable projects I’ve heard from Headtrip.”
Lt. Headtrip knocked it out of the park here for fans of weird nerdy bars delivered undeniably smoothly, with charisma and confidence. Here he's like if you mixed Aesop Rock and YoungBoy, or Homeboy Sandman meets Young Thug. "Om Jag Var (feat. Evelina Lu, NorthernDraw)" is his Eminem/Skylar Grey song, potentially accessible, though Em and Sky has 1/1000th the depth of Headtrip, Evelina and Draw. Next I think I need to hear Headtrip and Darko the super do a full collab LP.
