From parenthood to politics: Why Ho99o9 are finally confronting themselves

One of the guiding principles of ancient Chinese philosophy is yin and yang. In simple terms, it’s the idea of two opposing forces whose constant attraction and repulsion to each other cause changes in the universe – essentially leading to everything we are and that we experience. It’s also one of the driving forces behind Tomorrow We Escape, the new album by Ho99o9.

The duo – theOGM and Yeti Bones – formed in New Jersey in 2012, but relocated to Los Angeles two years later, and have gone on to make a name for themselves as an incredibly confrontational and aggressive band, both politically and musically. Since their inception, the pair have – across a series of mixtapes, EPs and studio albums – been blending elements of hip-hop, hardcore punk and industrial music to create a volatile, violent and incendiary sound that’s uniquely theirs. On the whole, it’s blistering, breakneck, brutal stuff that largely focuses on the systemic injustices of America and their own experiences of it.

That was certainly true of 2017’s debut album, United States Of Horror, as well as its 2022 follow-up, the Travis Barker-produced SKIN, which, as its title suggests, was a deep and dark reflection on being Black in the USA. In 2020 came the single Pigs Want Me Dead. Released in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, it was a vicious indictment of police brutality, and one, through its snarling melody and whispered vocals, that demonstrated heavy music doesn’t have to actually sound heavy to be heavy. With Tomorrow We Escape, Ho99o9 have extended that theory to their lyrics. Because rather than being full of political rage, these songs are noticeably more personal, more candid – the yin to the yang of their previous output.


“As Black folks, we already grew up in a hostile community and upbringing. But as human beings, we’re not raging 24/7,” says Yeti Bones. “I’ve got a side where I’m going to sleep and I’m listening to Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, and I’m taming myself. I’m calming down. I’m relaxing and enjoying beautiful music. I love punk, I love rap, I love R&B, I love soul, I love classic rock, I love jazz – these are all our influences and what we listen to on a daily basis.”

That's not to say that Tomorrow We Escape sounds radically different to its predecessors. This is still very much Ho99o9 – or at least a new iteration of them. But given those more personal, candid elements, it’s not surprising that theOGM – who’s become a father since SKIN was released – has stated this is the first Ho99o9 record he would be comfortable playing to both his son and his mother. So, has he? Yeti Bones almost spits out the glass of water he’s drinking when he hears the question, while a huge grin appears on the theOGM’s face as he answers.

“I haven’t played it for my mom yet,” he admits, “but my three year-old, he loves this kind of music, man. He’s really into drums and guitars and that kind of shit, so it’s really cool to be able to do that.”

This talk of theOGM’s son provides one of many honest, heartwarming moments, and a glimpse into the human lives beyond the band – the people behind the personas who so often wear intimidating masks or face paint onstage and in photoshoots. It’s a divide, of course, that always exists, but it’s all the more noticeable when a band’s image is so provocative. And there’s nothing that can quite shed light on reality than parenthood. It changes everybody, and theOGM is no exception.

“It’s both made me harder and softer. I’m learning patience all over again,” he smiles. “You’re literally teaching this person how to do everything, bro! Like, ‘Push your dick down in the potty! Don’t piss this way, my bro! Piss down!’” – and here theOGM raises his right hand vertically up in the air as Yeti Bones stifles another laugh – “It’s all the little things like that, but it’s good.

“Both are needed, to be hard and to be soft. Because when it’s time to discipline him, I can’t be all nice. If he messes up, I can’t be like, ‘Here’s a cookie. That was a great job.’ No. It’s, ‘Go sit down, you don’t get to watch TV.’ I gotta be hard on him because that’s gonna teach him certain things in life. But I love him to death. As hard as I am, I’m also a pushover. Like, literally anything he asks me for I’m pretty much doing it or getting it. It’s fucking cool.”

It would be a stretch to say Tomorrow We Escape is entirely inspired by a three-year-old learning how to pee, but that’s definitely part of it. Indeed, both members have opened themselves up on this record more than ever before. Yeti Bones went through a break-up and was heartbroken, which he says comes out in these songs. And it does. Escape might be a full-throttle punk banger, but it bleeds with emotional damage. ‘I can’t feel my face anymore / Leave my heart spilled on the fucking floor,’ he spits at the end of it.

“That’s how we get over shit,” he admits. “We put it in lyrics.”


theOGM lets out a loud and long ‘Pffffft’ that interrupts his friend and bandmate.

“I know this motherfucker,” he says, pointing at Yeti Bones, “and I don’t know what ‘heartbroken’ he talking about!”


They smile at each other, then erupt again.

“But yeah,” continues Yeti Bones in a serious tone of voice, but still with a giant grin on his face, “I just had to put it in some lyrics and express it that way.”

“He wasn’t heartbroken, man,” counters theOGM with an even bigger smile. “He was back outside doing the same shit he was doing, you know what I’m saying?”

Heartbroken or otherwise, there’s no question these are the most vulnerable songs Ho99o9 have ever written. At the same time, they haven’t completely eschewed their trademark political rage. On the trippy, glitchy rhythm’n’punk of Incline, the second single from the album, they come dangerously close to advocating for presidential assassinations, while also name-checking Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton, the two founders of the Black Panther Party.

“That verse,” says Yeti Bones, “I had to stand on business.”


He admits that it took a few rewrites of that verse for the song to achieve the impact the band were looking for, but they got there in the end.

“I’m very vocal when it comes to that kind of shit,” says theOGM. “I’ll tell him, ‘Yo, man, we gotta go harder, this shit gotta hit.’ I want that feeling, because although I’m making the music, I’m a fan, too.”

“That was the Chuck D coming out,” continues Yeti Bones. “That was the DMX pulling through, that was the M.O.P. coming out. I’m standing on 10 toes and I’m kicking through the door wearing all black and I’m taking everything and no prisoners in that verse. I had to stick my chest out on that one.”

On the other side of that kicked-through door lies whatever and wherever Ho99o9 are escaping to. It’s worth pointing out that the cover for recent single Incline is a photo of Assata Shakur – Tupac’s aunt and Black Panther member who escaped jail in 1979 and fled to Cuba, where she remains in exile. It’s no coincidence they chose her for the artwork. Because while her escape was in the past, it stands as a symbol for all the escapes to follow. And there are plenty more waiting for all of us in the future. Why tomorrow, though? Why not today?

“Because today I got to prep. I gotta scope everything out and make sure everything is good. Then tomorrow we go,” theOGM replies, matter-of-factly. “And what am I escaping from? This is not me specifically, I’m generalising, but it could be anything – a toxic relationship, drug use, things that aren’t healthy for your life. It’s just a combination of all those things over time.”

“At the same time, it’s also an escape from yourself. We’re all individuals and everybody got things they’re going through, as well as seeing what’s going on in the world in the current time,” adds Yeti Bones.

“But it takes confronting it first,” clarifies theOGM. “That’s why tomorrow you’re escaping. That’s what today is: the confrontation. You look yourself in the mirror and work that out – and then after that, you gotta move on.”

Here’s to tomorrow, then, and all the days that come before.

Tomorrow We Escape is out now via MNRK

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