Earlier this month, Oh No announced a new collaborative album with upstart producer Chris Keys. The album, titled Ashes, in which Oh No, for the very first time, relinquishes totally his producer reins, will be released October 23rd via Heavy Keys Records. In announcing the project, Oh & Chris gave fans an early preview with the gritty Guilty Simpson and Montage One-featuring “Devastation,” and now the rapper and producer pair are excited to release the album’s first official single, “Let’s Go.”

“Let’s Go,” premiered today by MTV Hive, continues to show off not only the strength and quality of the music coming from Oh No’s collaboration with Chris Keys, but also the diversity the two have been able to achieve; while “Devastation” beat its way through speakers with verses just as raw as the production, “Let’s Go” instead pulses its way to listeners’ ears. “I wanted to make a song that’d be a little more hype, something with a little more of a party vibe,” says Chris, who admits that he wasn’t sure about the song until he heard what Oh No did with the track. “I couldn’t really hear how it was going to come out,” explains Chris, “but when I heard what Oh did with the hook, I knew it was a definite single.”

For Oh No’s part, he pulled his inspiration for the song from a recent party that he stumbled upon while on tour in Europe. “I walked into this big ass rave,” recalls Oh No, “with fire torches, tents, thousands of people getting drunk, no police, no problems – just everybody having a grand time.”

Oh No comes from a musical family — his father is a storied ’70s soul singer; his uncle is an accomplished jazz trumpeter; his brother is the venerable producer Madlib — but that’s only part of the story. As an accomplished producer himself, Oh No has mined musical theater, Mediterranean psyche-funk, and Ethiopia’s experimental soul, producing for the likes of De La Soul and Murs — he’s also worked with legends like that late J Dilla and the soul-funk wizard David Matthews, best known as James Brown’s bandleader. As a rapper, Oh No is equally heralded, releasing a string of solo projects and working with super producer The Alchemist to release three albums under the group moniker Gangrene. Now, on October 23rd, Oh No will release his latest album, Ashes, where he relinquishes the producer reins entirely to Bay Area upstart Chris Keys. The result is some of Oh No’s most focused, intricate work, as he weaves stories (“Strangers”), parties (“Let’s Go”), and still manages to keep it raw (“Devastation”).

1. Ashes
2. Devastation Ft. Guilty Simpson & Montage One
3. Knockers
4. Spaceship Ft. Big Pooh
5. Let Go Edit
6. Big Thangs
7. Lights Ft. LMNO, Declaime
8. Feet
9. Block Banger Ft. Wildchild
10. The Picture Ft Roc C, Lyric James
11. Strangers
12. The End (Funeral) Ft. Killah Priest
13. Mayhem (Bonus)
14. Give It Up (Bonus)

On October 23rd, Oh No will team up with producer Chris Keys to release Ashes via Heavy Keys Records. To accompany the album announcement, Oh No & Chris Keys are also releasing album cut “Devastation”, premiered today by Pitchfork, which features Guilty Simpson and Montage One.

For years, Oh No has proven himself as one of rap music’s most talented rapper/producer double threats, releasing solo projects, producer albums, and collaborating with fellow rapper/producer The Alchemist as one-half of the beloved duo Gangrene. Chris Keys, on the other hand, is an upstart, a producer who cut his teeth and honed his craft off the radar by applying his classical training to the gritty, off-kilter sound that is quickly becoming his calling card.

Despite those differences, Ashes plays like an album from two artists that have been collaborating their whole lives – and it’s that easy chemistry that drove Oh No & Chris Keys to work together in the first place. “The first time we met, Chris was playing me beats,” says Oh No, who notes that he and Chris have recorded over 60 songs together in the past few months. “We just felt good about it.”

The other thing that Oh No & Chris Keys found they had in common, besides their love for music, is a love for weed, and the album title, Ashes, is a metaphor, says the pair, inspired – only half-jokingly – from the two artist’s shared passion for smoking. “The music we created,” explains Chris of the metaphor, “was the ash of our efforts.” Oh No explains, going deeper, saying, “It’s like dirty art on a vintage table. It makes you want to take a picture of it.”

Fans of Oh No will recognize a new level of focus and intricacy to his rhymes, something he’s excited for listeners to hear. “My progression on this album is more evident within the lyrics and subject matter,” says Oh No. “I was surrounded by a lot of different polarities within my life, so I tried to tackle a mix of positive and negative subjects, still keeping it raw.” That growth comes across throughout the album, whether Oh No is weaving stories (“Strangers”), trading verses with peers like Guilty Simpson (“Devastation”) and Big Pooh (“Spaceship”), or crafting unsuspecting club bangers (“Let’s Go”).

For Chris Keys, who will celebrate his debut release with Ashes, growth came through working with artist whose work he’s long admired. “I definitely grew as a producer,” he says, “working with someone who’s an amazing producer himself.” To hear Oh No tell it, though, the inspiration traveled both directions equally. “The beats, the beats, the beats,” repeats Oh No. “Chris’ beats just naturally put me in rap mode – I was just telling some stories, zoning out.”