EquallyOpposite

Joe says: “Probably one of the bands that I’m most excited about at this year’s conference. They’re different – different in a really good way. I’m excited to see their set, and I’m excited for Scranton to check these guys out. I’m hoping every kid from the University of Scranton is on hand for their set at Kildare’s.” - The Joe Review (Joe Caviston)

EquallyOpposite
The first time Lamar “Gordo” Gordon saw Zachary “ZacMac” McMullen, McMullen was spitting—fast—for a small circle of fellow students at Piedmont Virginia Community College.

“Aren’t you looking for a partner?” Gordon’s girlfriend asked as they walked by McMullen’s impromptu performance.

“Yeah,” Gordon replied, not letting on that he was impressed by McMullen’s verse. He’d been creating rap parody videos and posting them to YouTube, and he wanted a creative partner.

The next day, McMullen, who’d seen some of those YouTube videos and wanted in, happened to walk up to Gordon and started talking parodies. Gordon didn’t recognize McMullen, but McMullen followed Gordon around campus for a week, insisting they should work together. Finally, Gordon asked McMullen to rap for him, to show him what he’s got.

When McMullen started rapping, Gordon recognized his voice and style immediately. And when McMullen told Gordon about a dream he had when he was a kid—one where his pants fell down in gym class and, no matter what he did, he couldn’t pull them up—Gordon was sold. It was the most original thing he’d heard all day.

“I was persistent,” McMullen says with a satisfied smile.


Lamar “Gordo” Gordon and Zachary “ZacMac” McMullen, who together make up EquallyOpposite, say they make “rap music for people who don’t like rap music.” Their experimental, unusual style and often humorous language is all to get the listener to pay closer attention to what they’re actually saying: As different as we appear to be, we’re all human and more similar than we think. Photo by Ron Paris
Gordon, 25, is calm and deliberate in conversation. He works in a factory. He’s a realist. He believes in coincidence. He writes down all of his lyrics in the Notes app on his phone and works them over and over and over—people always think he’s texting, but he’s writing. He says that his mom kept a figurative blindfold over his eyes when he was growing up in Orange County. “Cocaine could be right in front of me and I’d think it was sugar,” he says with a burst of laughter. “My mom would be like, ‘Oh, baby’s that sugar. But that’s not sugar for you.’ The common sense didn’t come until I was in high school, and then I was like, ‘What have I been around?!’”

McMullen, also 25, is an excited fast-talker. He works on a farm. He’s a dreamer. He believes in irony. He builds his lyrics via memorization, working out one line then going over it to build the next; he’ll go over those two bars and make the third; go over those three and make the fourth. Eventually, it’s memorized. He says he “grew up very, very fast” in Madison, “doing dumb stuff, getting into trouble.”

For all of their apparent differences, Gordon and McMullen are quite similar. When the duo moved to Charlottesville in 2015 to be closer to a hip-hop scene, this was the biggest city either of them had been to. They’re both into baseball hats, comic books, video games and cartoons. They’re both quirky and goofy and not afraid to show it in their lyrics: “I don’t speak Japanese / I speak happinese,” Gordon spits on one song. “Playing games, eating Mike and Ikes / Now that sounds like my kind of night,” McMullen rhymes on another.

In their songs, they frequently trade off roles, one playing the straight man and the other playing the clown; one gets dark while the other goes light, equally in opposition and all in service of a shared message. On “Prepare for Snow,” a single from their upcoming record Xmas in August, Gordon voices innocence while McMullen voices experience over a beat that sounds like a twinkly sweet soundtrack to a video game snow globe world. As always, they come together in the hook: “Bring your ass inside before you go catch a cold. / You better ask next time, before you go out the door. / The world will wake you up, / ho ho hooo / Put you in the ground, / ho ho hoooo / It’s dangerous when the world is cold, / So prepare for snow.”

With their true-to-themselves brand of hip-hop, EquallyOpposite is sneaking into the consciousness of audiences here in Charlottesville—“Those guys can spit!” says Hampton—and elsewhere. Last year, the duo performed shows all over Virginia, in Brooklyn, Atlanta, at the POP Montreal Festival in Canada and in front of thousands of people at the Pittsburgh Pride Festival.

“With us, you never know what you’re gonna get,” says Gordon. Maybe it’s a hook based off of Fred Flintstone’s “Yabba Dabba Doo” or a line about being “a good cookie.” Maybe it’s a declaration of their expectations of a listener, as in “Yuki,” where, in the hook to the song, they explain how it feels “yuki” to make music without a message, how they refuse to “dumb it down for the public / just so your ass can stomach it.” They’re into sick beats, but only as a gateway into their weird and wonderful world of lyrical quirks.

“We’re trying to find that medium between conscious and popular, saying things you need to hear in a cool way to make you accept it,” says McMullen.

Gordon says it best in the hook to “Yabba Dabba”: “I preach the print a bit different / If this don’t pin a point of yo interest,” he spits. “Trust, believe that we can dig deeper. / Two tunnel vision.” - Erin

Equallyopposite is a dope duo period! Raw fresh hip hop talent with something bringingsomething new to the table! Check there brand new video YUKI - Don danny

In their songs, they frequently trade off roles, one playing the straight man and the other playing the clown; one gets dark while the other goes light, equally in opposition and all in service of a shared message. On “Prepare for Snow,” a single from their upcoming record Xmas in August, Gordon voices innocence while McMullen voices experience over a beat that sounds like a twinkly sweet soundtrack to a video game snow globe world. As always, they come together in the hook: “Bring your ass inside before you go catch a cold. / You better ask next time, before you go out the door. / The world will wake you up, / ho ho hooo / Put you in the ground, / ho ho hoooo / It’s dangerous when the world is cold, / So prepare for snow.”

With their true-to-themselves brand of hip-hop, EquallyOpposite is sneaking into the consciousness of audiences here in Charlottesville—“Those guys can spit!” says Hampton—and elsewhere. Last year, the duo performed shows all over Virginia, in Brooklyn, Atlanta, at the POP Montreal Festival in Canada and in front of thousands of people at the Pittsburgh Pride Festival.

“With us, you never know what you’re gonna get,” says Gordon. Maybe it’s a hook based off of Fred Flintstone’s “Yabba Dabba Doo” or a line about being “a good cookie.” Maybe it’s a declaration of their expectations of a listener, as in “Yuki,” where, in the hook to the song, they explain how it feels “yuki” to make music without a message, how they refuse to “dumb it down for the public / just so your ass can stomach it.” They’re into sick beats, but only as a gateway into their weird and wonderful world of lyrical quirks.

“We’re trying to find that medium between conscious and popular, saying things you need to hear in a cool way to make you accept it,” says McMullen.

Gordon says it best in the hook to “Yabba Dabba”: “I preach the print a bit different / If this don’t pin a point of yo interest,” he spits. “Trust, believe that we can dig deeper. / Two tunnel vision.” - Erin O hare

Hip Hop duo, Equally Opposite is here to break the doors down. Hailing from Charlottesville, Va, the duo has been making a name for themselves as the go-to alternative rap act in Virginia. Members, ZacMac & Gordo Kai have been experimenting with their specific sounds for over five years and this album is an entire carnival of sights and sounds.
The production varies from haunting bell tolls to aggressive bass hits. Each flow is distinct and direct. “Dose (intro)” is a dramatic and synthy intro into the duo’s enigmatic energy. “Fuq U” is a militant talk-shit anthem. Lead by ZacMac’s nasally hook, the duo showcases their best skill, showmanship. “Shamu” is the perfect catalyst for a mosh pit. The duo’s verses flow like skipping rocks over a pond. In, “Congo Booty” the duo is clever and humorous about their love for the opposite sex. The production sounds like a Kanye throwaway, era ’08.
“Xziety Attacks” is the duo’s most introspective track. Observing faults in their character, the duo comes to terms with the negative aspects of their upbringing and maintain positivity through it. “Love Me or Leave Me” has a wonderfully dreamy opening. It transitions into a lofty bed of comfort the duo ride through. A more serious love song, the duo thank their partners for staying with them and understanding them during hard times. It’s an endearing song about loving somebody for all of them and not just the sides you want to see.
The album ends with “Anything over Everything.” The production is triumphant and driving. This song serves as the duo’s mission statement. They’re confident in their sound and of who they are. The song is a meditation on giving yourself fully to anybody or any system. ZacMac’s verse deals with the duality of having depression and Gordo Kai’s verse deals with police brutality. A very strong track to end a solid album.
“2 Little 2 No Fame” is impressive and expansive. The genre-bending duo work with each other to create small worlds you can dive in and out of. The production style varies but remains quality across the board. A lot of these songs are perfect for the season we’re in but unfortunately, we’re going through a revolution, so it’s hard to say when the duo will be able to perform these songs, but I cannot wait to be there moshing with my mask on. - David McCloud