OldBoy Rhymes has returned with raw, emotional and personal revelations on his sophomore album, Curly Head, which arrived Friday (August 22) via Strange Famous Records.
The 12-track project, produced entirely by Ariano, dives into the duality of the OldBoy Rhymes persona—balancing childhood trauma, global adventures and fatherhood.
“I have very curly hair, and so does my son,” he said. “When I was a little kid in Alaska, bullies called me ‘curly head.’ I’ve shaved my head since I was 10 years old, which is when I moved to Jakarta. A dichotomy exists within me between the nerdy curly head and the troublemaker who’s fought his way through a lifetime of extreme experiences.”
The album follows his 2024 debut, The Sane Asylum, which offered a wide-angle view of his life. Curly Head narrows the focus, unpacking stories of violence, healing and family.
“This album explores that duality, telling some of the stories I didn’t detail in my debut album The Sane Asylum — from a stabbing, to a home invasion, to my son’s medical challenges, to personally searching for and finding my wife’s biological mother in the Philippines,” he explained.
OldBoy dedicates the album to his younger self, his son, his wife and two close friends. “I dedicate Curly Head to my friend Aaron M, who knows what it’s like to fight for a childhood dream and achieve it and David J who has always taken the time to understand and support me when others didn’t. David was the one who found me after the home invasion I detail in the song ‘Interpol.’”
Strange Famous Records, founded by Sage Francis, emerged in the late 1990s as a platform for independent Hip-Hop artists. Known for its DIY ethic and lyrical depth, the label has become a home for artists who value creative freedom over mainstream formulas.
Find the album and tracklist below.
- Curly Head
- Rage
- Serenity (Interlude)
- Survival State
- Pediatric Ward
- Dr. Choy
- Promise It Will Be Ok
- Sari Club (Interlude)
- Interpol
- Tiny Pills
- Never Leave Me
- Monarch 333