Oddisee

Amir Mohamed el Khalifa, better known by his stage name Oddisee, is an American rapper and producer from Washington, DC. He is one third of Diamond District. He was also part of the Low Budget Crew.

Oddisee was raised by his African American mother and Sudanese father. According to a National Public Radio interview with el Khalifa, Prince George's County is one of the wealthiest African American counties in the nation but borders some of the DC area's roughest parts. He moved to Washington, DC after high school.

In 2010, Oddisee released Traveling Man on Mello Music Group. His Odd Spring mixtape was listed on the Washington Post's Best Local Hip-Hop mixtapes of 2010. In 2011, Oddisee released Rock Creek Park, which was ranked as a Mixtape of the Week by Stereogum. Odd Seasons, a collection of EPs released throughout the previous 12 months, was also released that year.

In 2012, he released the album titled People Hear What They See. The Beauty in All, his first instrumental release since Rock Creek Park, was released in 2013. In that year, he also released Tangible Dream. In 2015, he released The Good Fight. In 2016, he released the EP, Alwasta, and the mixtape, The Odd Tape.

Oddisee was originally influenced by his parents' heritages, combined with a hip-hop influence from his older cousins. In an interview with NPR, he explained why he was influenced by early East Coast emcees such as Eric B. & Rakim, De La Soul, and A Tribe Called Quest. He stated that these rappers don't talk about drugs or murder, and he could relate more to their lyrics.

Studio albums

• 101 (2008)
• Mental Liberation (2009)
• New Money (2009) (with Trek Life)
• In the Ruff (2009) (with YU and Uptown XO, as Diamond District)
• Traveling Man (2010)
• People Hear What They See (2012)
• The Beauty in All (2013)
• Tangible Dream (2013)
• March on Washington (2014) (with YU and Uptown XO, as Diamond District)
• The Good Fight (2015)
• The Iceberg (2017)

Compilation albums

• Odd Seasons (2011)

Mixtapes

• Instrumental Mixtape Volume One (2005)
• The Remixture Vol. 1 (2006)
• Foot in the Door (2006)
• Instrumental Mixtape Vol. 2 (2006)
• Odd Summer (2009)
• Odd Autumn (2009)
• Odd Winter (2010)
• Odd Spring (2010)
• Rock Creek Park (2011)
• The Odd Tape (2016)

EPs

• Good Tree (2008)
• Hear My Dear (2008)
• Odd Renditions Vol. 001 (2012)
• Alwasta (2016)

Singles

• "Show You" b/w "Part of the World" (2006) (with Heralds of Change)
• "Once Again" (2006)
• "101" (2008)
• "Slow It Down" (2012)
• "Ain't That Peculiar (Remix)" (2013)
• "Lost Cause" (2014) (with YU and Uptown XO, as Diamond District)
• "That's Love" (2015)

Guest appearances

• DJ Jazzy Jeff - "Musik Lounge" from The Magnificent (2002)
• The Foreign Exchange - "The Answer" from Connected (2004)
• Kenn Starr - "Nothing But Time" from Starr Status (2006)
• SoulStice - "Get It Right" from Dead Letter Perfect (2007)
• Marco Polo - "Low Budget Allstars" from Port Authority (2007)
• J-Live - "The Upgrade" from Then What Happened? (2008)
• SoulStice & Sbe - "Unfold" from Beyond Borders (2009)
• Apollo Brown - "Lower the Boom" and "Propa" from The Reset (2010)
• JR & PH7 - "Hustle and Flow" from The Update (2010)
• B-Doub - "All in a Days Work" from Food for Thought (2010)
• Apollo Brown - "The Times" from Clouds (2011)
• DTMD - "Been Tryin'" from Makin' Dollas (2011)
• Trek Life - "Might Sound Crazy" from Wouldn't Change Nothing (2011)
• Eric Lau - "What I'd Rather" (2012)
• Trek Life - "We Good" from Hometown Foreigner (2013)
• Eric Lau - "Rise Up" from One of Many (2013)
• 20syl - "Ongoing Thing" from Motifs (2014)
• Soulpete - "Rhymes on Random" from Soul Raw (2014)
• Apollo Brown - "What You Were Lookin' For" from Grandeur (2015)
• No Wyld - "Nomads" from Nomads (2016)

Productions

• J-Live - "Aaw Yeah" from The Hear After (2005)
• Sareem Poems - "Tell It" and "She So" from Black and Read All Over (2009)
• Verbal Kent - "In the Beginning" from Save Your Friends (2010)
• Trek Life - "Ready to Live", "Still Never Rains", "As the World Turns", "Everything Changed Nothing", “Wow", "Due West", "So Supreme", "I'd Rather Be", "So LA", "Jump Out There", and "Might Sound Crazy" from Everything Changed Nothing (2010)
• Georgia Anne Muldrow & Declaime - "Get Up Gogo" from Heaven or Hell (2010)
• Trek Life - "Get in Touch" and "Wouldn't Change Nothing" from Wouldn't Change Nothing (2011)
• Has-Lo - "Last Day of School" from Conversation B (2011)
• Homeboy Sandman - "Whatchu Want from Me?" from First of a Living Breed (2012)
• Substantial - "Check My Resume", "Make Believe", "Shit on My Lawn", "Umoja", and "Movin Alright" from Home Is Where the Art Is (2012)
• Rainy Milo - "The Other Way" from Limey (2012)
• Joey Badass - "Sorry Bonita" from Summer Knights (2013)
• Far Exp - "Checklist" from The Expansion (2014)
• King Mez - "New Vinyl" (2014)
• Finale - Odds & Ends (2015)