Omar-S - Tap Dat Ass

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  • From his "Ricardo Willawobo" moment, to his stone-faced DJ appearances, to track titles like "You Silk Suit Wearin Mulafuk'ka" or "Here's Your Trance, Now Dance!!," Alex O. Smith has an unfiltered quality to his persona that's most often passed for charisma. On his latest EP, though, it feels more like a liability. In isolation, the name Tap Dat Ass might be redeemed by the title track's tap dancing samples. But combined with other bits on the cover—most notably the text "I GOTTA BIG DICK 2 MUTHAFUKKA!" next to a random mug shot—it makes him seem less like a mysterious bad boy and more like a creep, or even the "Annoying Mumbling Alkaholik" he skewered in another title. The music is more polite—too much so, in fact. The title track has all the hallmarks of classic Omar-S: plodding beat, white-hot hi-hats, a general feeling of being bashed out in one take. The tap dancing, sampled along with its original soundtrack, makes for a decent hook, especially when Smith starts chopping it up, Soundstream-style. "Odawa," meanwhile, could use a hook—its stripped-back disco-house arrangement is nice enough but it seems to set the stage for something that never arrives. As with a lot of his music over the past few years (setting aside his killer LP, The Best!), this record has the ingredients of Smith's best music but not the personality.
  • Tracklist
      A Tap Dat Ass B Odawa
RA