Visual Culture: Stream 'Lullabies For a Broken Brain' By Quelle Chris Now!

Lyricists born from the murky, funky waters of Detroit, Michigan are fueled by a style and panache unlike anyone else in hip-hop. For Quelle Chris, the off-kilter producer-and-MC has developed a knack for being one of the most unique personalities in the game. Definitely not a  stranger to the ears and hearts here at OKP, Quelle is planning on once again showcasing his talent for creativity with a new instrumental album, titled, Lullabies For a Broken Brain.

Using a lot of sounds pulled from popular movies and television, Lullabies is curated differently than Quelle Chris's other productions. In the past, his previous efforts like Ghost at the Finish Line, N****s Is Men and isweatergawd showcased an everyman style that separated him from the rest of his contemporaries. "I'm very far from feeling comfortable," he told Okayplayer exclusively. "Critically acclaimed don't pay rent. I swear I wish I could convert props into cash."

Highly praised and devastatingly dope on the M-I-C, Quelle Chris and his 15-track instrumental LP is an audio-adrenaline filled, Norman Lear inspired batch of mood music that is "ideal on an Armageddon evening," according to QC. As you can see in the gallery above, a part of Quelle Chris's success stemmed from the hand drawn covers that he painstakingly worked on, in addition to those mean beats and rhymes he crafts on the daily. "I've always loved that Andre verse on 'Elevators' where he bumps into dude at the mall. Rap fans have evolved or arguably devolved in an interesting way."

Fighting the good fight is a trend that Quelle Chris has continued while embarking on this journey of awesomeness to downright bizarre. We here at Okayplayer noticed his trend of giving listeners incredible beats with cool album covers, it would only be right that we ask the 313 rhymesmith to break down the covers that he designed himself.

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Innocent Country | 2dirt4tv3

"This album was everything that I felt represented by the title. I had an idea of just a row of people stabbing each other in the backs, but that doesn't cover everything the album is about. A sad way to view life, to be honest, so I just kept adding more people and more variations of the idea. I was making this image with physical copies in mind and I wanted the booklet to be like an art book that fans could have to express themselves with while enjoying the album. Maybe down the line something like that could still happen."

Ghost at the Finish Line

"This was a title that came to me while I was in a really dark place. What things or people, dead and living, around or apart, will stick with you until the end? I just had a break up, which was my fault and the picture was a silhouette from a vacation picture with a close friend. I could see the colors whenever I closed my eyes, so I brought it to the homie Fresh Daily, and he hooked up the colors. I didn't want a font that already existed, so I drew up a few rough ideas and Fresh came through with the refined Ghost at the Finish Line font and logo. Cavalier brought it all home with the layout, and it proves that my friends are the best. I will never question that!"

N****s is Men

"Discussions began with the cover being a variation of the "I AM A MAN" pictures from the civil rights movement. I made the N****s is Men face logo, while Fresh Daily came through with the clean up. I tend to be rather messy and Fresh has a great eye for sharpening things. Once the logo was done, I felt like I had all that I needed. I like black-and-white with negative space on my covers, yet N****s is Men still didn't feel right. Cavalier suggested to bring on painter/artist Andre Trenier. Let's just say that he was nothing short of a godsend.

Dre captured the essence and topic of the album to a tee. I can't even remember if he heard the album, but his work was just meant to be. Everything from the blunts, the book, the rhymes, the way he is sitting — you can just feel what he's going through. Cavalier finished the layout with an elevated skill and touch and the rest is music history."