CunninLynguists members Deacon The Villain and Natti have formed a new group with frequent collaborator Sheisty Khrist. The trio will be known as The Off Daze, creating a bridge between multiple duos that have existed among the three MCs.
“Long story short, Natti and Deacon The Villain were in a rap group together before CunninLynguists called Kynfolk,” Deacon explained to HipHopDX. “Natti and Sheisty Khrist were in a rap group together before that called Madd Militia. After CunninLynguists started, Deacon and Sheisty did an album together called Niggaz With Latitude. Off all those groups, only Kynfolk truly made feel-good music. The Off Daze is a return to that.”
Fans can get their first taste what the group has to fer the lead single “Twisted Love Song.” Deacon says The Off Daze’s debut project, Couple’s Skate, will be more lighthearted than CunninLynguists’ work.
“In a world that’s gotten so serious, so racial, so political, so anxious, we feel people need a release,” he told DX. “People just need to feel good, dance and laugh. We tapped into musical influences put into us by our parents, aunties, uncles, old cousins, etc. Psychedelic funk, soul and disco mixed up with some our favorite early ’90s influences like 8Ball and MJG, Tela, Mr. Mike and OutKast.”
He added, “We wanted to make something retro that you could roller skate too, while also feeling like it wasn’t 1978. Conceptually, we pictured ourselves in an intergalactic roller rink/strip club then just started cranking out songs.”
Although the new album will be a departure from what listeners are used to, fans don’t need to worry about Deacon and Natti abandoning CunninLynguists.
“This doesn’t signal the end CunninLynguists,” Deacon said. “We always do a side project. A lot CunninLynguists’ fan base will probably hate this record because it’s such a shift from what they know us for doing. But come to Kentucky, and this is the album people that truly know us have always been waiting for.”
Couple’s Skate will be released on August 14. The album is produced entirely by Deacon and features no samples.
Check out The Off Daze’s maxi-single for “Twisted Love Song” below. Purchase cassettes and t-shirts while they last here.