“Merfolk Space Program”: Axiom ThaWyze & Andy O’s Cosmic Grit.

Axiom ThaWyze and Andy O’s “Merfolk Space Program” arrived with a title that stopped my brain for a solid ten seconds. A Merfolk… Space Program. It’s an idea that smells of brine and ozone, of impossible ambition born in the crushing deep. It’s a perfect, almost comically absurd flag to plant in the soil of Boise, Idaho, and it perfectly captures the spirit of this record: a creature of the depths using ancient tools to shoot for the cosmos.

The foundational layer here is pure, unvarnished earth. Tracks like “Grit” and “Mud” aren’t just declarations of resilience; they feel like affirmations made with dirty hands. There’s a palpable weight to the production, a classic boom-bap gravity that keeps your head nodding while Axiom ThaWyze and Andy O navigate the muck. This isn’t the slick, polished survival of a pop star; it’s the stubborn persistence of a weed growing through a crack in the concrete, a defiant green against the grey. “We come from the MUD and return to the dust,” they remind us, a grounding mantra in a world obsessed with flight.

"Merfolk Space Program": Axiom Tha Wyze & Andy O's Cosmic Grit.
“Merfolk Space Program”: Axiom Tha Wyze & Andy O’s Cosmic Grit.

But this duo isn’t content to stay grounded. Their method of liftoff is the craft itself, treated with an almost religious reverence. Here, lyrics aren’t just spit; they’re carved. “Glyph” frames the verse as a sacred marking, a kind of cuneiform pressed into digital clay, a “constellation in the static” meant to outlast trends. This reverence explodes into confrontational energy on “Don’t Step” and the high-octane “Full Tilt,” but it’s most profoundly felt in “Homage,” where hip-hop is presented as a creed, a therapy, and the only permanent thing in a world where “people disappear.”

Just when you think you have the album figured out—all grit and lyrical wizardry—a track like “Shania Price” appears, and the entire project pivots into an Edward Hopper painting. The focus shifts from the self to a small-town bartender, a “light in the low life,” and the artists become compassionate observers. It’s a moment of profound empathy that gives the album its soul, proving their vision is as wide as it is deep. This outward gaze turns philosophical in the chilling memento mori of “Catacombs,” a stark meditation on the uselessness of a king’s crown in a tomb.

"Merfolk Space Program": Axiom Tha Wyze & Andy O's Cosmic Grit.
“Merfolk Space Program”: Axiom Tha Wyze & Andy O’s Cosmic Grit.

Listening to “Merfolk Space Program” feels like watching someone build a rocket out of driftwood and sheer willpower. It’s an alchemical process, turning the mud of existence and the sacred texts of hip-hop into fuel. The mission is to escape the catacombs of the mundane and the “State Of EMRGNC” of modern life. It’s a beautiful, glorious, and perhaps impossible mission. But what other kind is worth the launch?

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