Earlier this year, 1100 dropped 1300 My Cousin, a project that solidified his status as a rising talent whose rhymes conjure futuristic, gangster film noir. And just last week, he dropped Leven Durant (a playful reference to the former Golden State Warrior), an album that outlines his trademark street exploits and summons the aura of a Lil B mixtape with its off-kilter lyrics and Photoshopped cover art.
Tracks like “Note to Self” cut through the noisy bravado to highlight 1100 in his idiosyncratic prime. For two straight minutes — without any hook or features — he rap-talks about his therapist, SpongeBob SquarePants and “popping shrooms” while “going where the wind blow.” Lines like “I’m trying to find myself… I used to try to be my brother now I be myself” and “it’s funny how you always run back to the time of pain” surprise with their unglamorized clarity — a refreshing element in a genre often confined to hyperbolic claims of flawlessness.
He does this over minimalistic, subdued, choral-and-keyboard backdrops that evoke Scandinavian winters — introspective, lo-fi instrumentals not typically favored by Thizzler’s street rappers.
Leven Durant marks his most publicized effort to date, as the rapper has now reached 41,000 followers on Instagram and 171,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. Not too shabby for a kid from East 24th Street and 11th Avenue who once rapped about needing “courtesy rides because I lost my Clipper” public transit card.
Going back to 2022, 1100 and his Dr. Dre-like mentor, Mitchell — a superbly skilled sound architect and part-time rhymer — began to gain major traction with 2 Headed Goat, a joint project that garnered underground acclaim. The album’s cover art features a claymation-style portrait of the two rappers draped in Dragon Ball Z dōgis (martial arts training gear), Jordan 1s and chains while standing on their respective street corners. Each song wavers between the dark circus of nefarious crimes and the soul-searching rhythms of urban meditation. To my ears, they’re on the shortlist for the most intriguing Bay Area duos right now.
And again in 2022, 1100 Himself delivered The 11th Hokage, a solo album that hijacks the Naruto manga narrative in which the most capable ninja of a village is denoted as the region’s “hokage.” Featuring an armada of local collaborators like 10Millibang and Demahjiae, the production utilizes slowed down flutes, wavy basslines and video game samples to create an eclectic soundscape with overtones of Detroit drill music.
Of course, in 2020, 1100 Himself gave us Funk Theft Auto. Heavily inspired by the legendary video game, the album oscillates from rags-to-riches anthems like “Throw It In The Bag” to a Bobby Caldwell-sampling ballad about loyalty, “Do For Love.”
Like I said, 1100 Himself’s center point is hard to triangulate. But for nerds like me who appreciate a trippy orbit of weed-hazed whimsy, and for Bay Area mobb music aficionados who like to ride with tinted windows, he’s certainly providing a memorable soundtrack.
