Oxvy.Moron Credit: Leubug
Oxvy.Moron doesn’t play to expectations; even her name isn’t how it seems, with a silent “v” in “Oxvy.” The Chicago-based rapper’s visuals are as candy colored as her songs sound. In her music videos and promo photos, she bounces through imaginative artificial scenery that features touches such as golf-course green grass and human-size rainbow-hued daisies. She’s always clothed in bright colors and buoyant silhouettes: fluffy pink hats, electric yellow button-ups with pronounced cuffs, oversize blue satin jackets. But alongside this silliness and play, she’s also sophisticated and deep, with a wide-ranging musical aesthetic and an enlightening degree of knowledge about herself.
Oxvy.Moron’s lyrics run a thematic gamut—exalting her blessings, meditating on anxiety, stunting on haters—and she weaves through rhymes like a skater breezing around a skate park. Even her most complicated tricks appear nonchalant. She girds her bars with a rich musical palette that incorporates trip-hop, soul, and even a little pop punk. The sound is as eclectic as her attitude: fun but not frivolous, introspective but not melancholic, fierce but not biting.
Last October, Oxvy.Moron self-released a six-song EP titled Bloom! Phase 1, an optimistic adventure through the complicated journey of coming into self-knowledge. On September 2, she followed it up with a three-song tape called What’s Good? through LittleHeadButt, an emerging local cassette label with an excitingly diverse roster that includes harsh noise and postmetal. It seems a fitting home for an artist who can’t be easily described but brings a distinctive vibe rooted in openness, self-reflection, and growth. For listeners who can party with that kind of sentiment, Oxvy.Moron’s show promises a garden of delights.
Oxvy.Moron Camila Isabel and Aliyah Jones open. Mon 10/13, 7:30 PM, Schubas, 3159 N. Southport, $17.55, 18+
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Chicago Reader staff writer Micco Caporale (they/them) is an award-winning journalist and Korn-fed midwesterner bouncing their way through basement shows, warehouse parties, and art galleries.
They’re interested in the material, social, and political circumstances that shape art and music and the subcultures associated with them.
Their writing has appeared in outlets such as Nylon, Pitchfork, Buzzfeed, In These Times, Yes! Magazine, and more.
When not nurturing their love affair with truth, beauty, and profanity, they can be found powerlifting.
Caporale lives in Chicago. They speak English and you can reach them at mcaporale@chicagoreader.com and follow their work on Twitter.