Ohmega Watts “The Find”

Ohmega Watts “The Find” Inpress Magazine Review November 2005

Ohmega Watts The Find
By Mawuse Ziegbe

Ohmega Watts is one of those martyrs to music who has to hide his grungy fingernails and the slight hunchback he’s picked up from spending hours poring over vinyl shelves in dusty second-hand shops. A true crate digger. And as such, his music is a rich amalgamation of grainy old school samples, wafting jazz-infused melodies and references to hip hop’s past. While Watts relies on his influences a bit much, he does a great job of bridging his Brooklyn, New York hip hop sensibilities with an ambitious survey of urban music from reggae to soul.

Ohmega Watts (aka Milton Campbell) piqued the interest of DJ heavyweights such as Gilles Peterson with his 2004 single “A Request”, a melodic joint tempered by jutting record scratches and 1950s vocal samples. “A Request” appears in longer form on “The Find” playing with the original beat that attracted the spotlight but keeping it fresh for old fans waiting to cop his debut. And for the most part, there is a lot that is right with this album. Watts shows his producer chops on semi-instrumental tracks like “Groovin’ on Sunshine” with tricked-out trumpets and funk-powered guitars that make it sound like an outtake from the Supafly soundtrack. “That Sound” channels the busy, hyper-sampled, 1994-era hip hop tracks but with more ease and control with a sweet scratchin’ set.

Watts’ Jamaican background also fits nicely in this 22-track opus on joints like “Treasure Hunt” feat. Sugar Candy where the beat meanders between a lackadaisical roots rhythm and a punchy dancehall beat. Watts’ also carves out his own space among the Pete Rock and J Dilla producer acolytes with several joints cut from the same spacey, jazzy groovalicious fabric like title track “The Find” and “Long Ago.”

This is ultimately an album for beat heads as Ohmega Watts passable rhymes pale in comparison to his exceptional ability to create impressive sonic smorgasbords of rhythm.