L'Orange

L'Orange is a North Carolina-born beatmaker with a penchant for sampling early jazz records and vintage radio broadcasts, lending a nostalgic, time-worn quality to his music. After starting his career with a few primarily instrumental solo releases such as 2012's The Mad Writer, his first full-length rap collaboration was 2013's The City Under the City, with <a href="spotify:artist:2EOYzFWSEZyYkMfWq7K6nj">Stik Figa</a>. Since then, he has released masterful efforts with <a href="spotify:artist:3zFaWPA8Jobgf5egh38KD2">Kool Keith</a> (Time? Astonishing!, 2015), <a href="spotify:artist:6qbtuhThjXYnpldXCczlDd">Mr. Lif</a> (The Life & Death of Scenery, 2016), and others, as well as solo ventures like 2017's The Ordinary Man. He's issued a trio of albums with <a href="spotify:artist:75vP2W1S1HhYmpi5cL14Oz">Solemn Brigham</a> as the duo <a href="spotify:artist:6RhsbxbsDk5ypSXFkS41J4">Marlowe</a>, as well as a full-length with Nashville rapper <a href="spotify:artist:20IovKhpCSEdFWkcahqM09">Namir Blade</a> (2021's Imaginary Everything) and a remix effort with <a href="spotify:artist:1q13yHC6Syg5Y8iPLrRnCq">Joell Ortiz</a> (2023's Signature).

Born Austin Hart, the producer started making music during the mid-2000s. After a stint as a recording engineer, he began releasing his own recordings in early 2011, starting with The Manipulation EP. Later in the year, he issued Old Soul, an album that heavily sampled the music of <a href="spotify:artist:1YzCsTRb22dQkh9lghPIrp">Billie Holiday</a>, whom L'Orange describes as his muse. The Still Spinning EP and the full-length The Mad Writer followed in 2012. L'Orange began a long, fruitful partnership with the <a href="spotify:artist:3c5J6hzTBZJVsjJ9FJoQ0V">Mello Music Group</a> label in 2013, beginning with The City Under the City. A collaboration with <a href="spotify:artist:2EOYzFWSEZyYkMfWq7K6nj">Stik Figa</a>, it also included appearances from <a href="spotify:artist:5CuU6SRJjbbZL926nSGGxX">Open Mike Eagle</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7qDALSEiVZvynETxUjyiCu">yU</a>. L'Orange's next full-length, The Orchid Days, arrived in 2014. The album featured guest vocalists including <a href="spotify:artist:5s1QeAf7U5ELP9PTeLaicb">Homeboy Sandman</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1KeJhR0ENFviw187pD4LPT">Blu</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6VBHBMoQNSPMhh214baHsU">Jeremiah Jae</a>. During the year, the producer also released singles featuring <a href="spotify:artist:6qbtuhThjXYnpldXCczlDd">Mr. Lif</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2vyB0oUbcyIaoBVgUwhxZL">John Robinson</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1p5inp8DH6XUJsMKftseei">Boog Brown</a>. He then collaborated with <a href="spotify:artist:6VBHBMoQNSPMhh214baHsU">Jae</a> on a full-length, The Night Took Us in Like Family, which was released by <a href="spotify:artist:3c5J6hzTBZJVsjJ9FJoQ0V">Mello Music Group</a> in April 2015. A few months later, the label issued Time? Astonishing!, L'Orange's collaboration with legendary hip-hop eccentric <a href="spotify:artist:3zFaWPA8Jobgf5egh38KD2">Kool Keith</a>.

In 2016, L'Orange and <a href="spotify:artist:6qbtuhThjXYnpldXCczlDd">Mr. Lif</a> collaborated on a full-length titled The Life & Death of Scenery, which was released in October. A year later, L'Orange released The Ordinary Man, a solo album that featured guest appearances from <a href="spotify:artist:0YsLR3SQd5QTXAhGIGX7cl">Del the Funky Homosapien</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:72tRiBHei5G9M8it4h4sfC">Oddisee</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1KeJhR0ENFviw187pD4LPT">Blu</a>, and others. He then formed the duo <a href="spotify:artist:6RhsbxbsDk5ypSXFkS41J4">Marlowe</a> with rapper <a href="spotify:artist:75vP2W1S1HhYmpi5cL14Oz">Solemn Brigham</a>, who was also featured on The Ordinary Man. The self-titled debut Marlowe was issued by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22MMG%22">MMG</a> in 2018. L'Orange reunited with <a href="spotify:artist:6VBHBMoQNSPMhh214baHsU">Jae</a> for 2019's Complicate Your Life with Violence; guests included <a href="spotify:artist:39vtb2iiz3079nqfL5nfFc">Billy Woods</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1vmLIa1VRY38hZoar8AyYS">Chester Watson</a>. Marlowe 2 appeared in 2020. L'Orange contributed to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22MMG%22">MMG</a>'s 2021 compilation Bushido, and collaborated with <a href="spotify:artist:20IovKhpCSEdFWkcahqM09">Namir Blade</a> on the blues-influenced full-length Imaginary Everything. He also released the weary but optimistic instrumental album The World Is Still Chaos, But I Feel Better. Marlowe 3 was released in 2022, and Signature, L'Orange's remixes of tracks from <a href="spotify:artist:1q13yHC6Syg5Y8iPLrRnCq">Joell Ortiz</a>'s album Autograph, appeared in 2023. The producer launched his label, Old Soul Music, with a reissue of 2011's Old Soul, including the previously unreleased "Cafe Lover," featuring <a href="spotify:artist:1KeJhR0ENFviw187pD4LPT">Blu</a>. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi