The Koreatown Oddity (Los Angeles denizen Dominique Purdy) has been releasing tapes of bugged-out, lo-fi hip-hop since 2012, on labels like New Los Angeles, Strictly Cassette, and Leaving Records. Finna Be Past Tense is his debut for Leaving Records' sister label Stones Throw, and every track except the last one was produced by labelmate Vex Ruffin. While Ruffin typically makes new wave-influenced pop on his own, he has a history of producing obtuse underground hip-hop, and he ends up being a well-fitting match for Purdy's style of straight-to-cassette rap. There's a healthy dose of MF Doom-like comic book fantasy to the album, with fractured Saturday morning cartoon samples and a loose theme regarding dinosaurs. "Land Before Time" weaves Dälek-like swarming feedback noise into its pounding rhythm, and "Fuck Dinosaurs" is closer to Paul White's heavy psych-influenced productions. As loose and trippy as the production is, Purdy's rapping is often quite direct and specific, addressing social issues and reflecting on the daily grind. He manages to stay motivated even as trouble increases and it's hard to tell if anyone is listening to him. As he puts it on "Don't Say 2 or 1," he intends to continue "pumping out these tapes whether or not you really want it." On "Depressed But Hopeful," he takes a break from rapping, drifting downstream and nonchalantly singing over a very trippy collage of slow, wavy beats and bizarre samples. "Meditative Thought" starts out with straight-ahead rapping and choppy beats, but he retreats into the back of his mind for the song's second half. "Regret Is Useless" is another slow, lazy drift with concerned lyrics. Album-closer "Time After Technology" (produced by Linden Africa) is the most abstract of all, beginning with soothing, airy vocals by Joyce Wrice and oozing through an acid-soaked soundscape, with Purdy's distorted voice warning you that your time is up. Both hallucinatory and realistic, Purdy's style is very strange and often captivating, and he fits perfectly into the Stones Throw universe. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi

1		Land Before Time
2		Fuck Dinosaurs
3		They
4		Yesterday's News
5		Mood of the Grind
6		A Break from the Drama of Life Drunk at the Wet T-Shirt Contest
7		Don't Say 2 or 1
8		Spinning Axis
9		Depressed But Hopeful
10		Meditative Thought
11		Regret Is Useless
12		Time After Technology