star

Genre-hopping, mercurial LA songwriter 2hollis makes an unpredictable blend of rap, electro, straight-ahead pop, and headbanging rock. hollis, who is the son of Tortoise drummer John Herndon, has built his cultlike audience due to a mythic lore called OSX, which he has expanded as his career has progressed; the way hollis tells it, he’s merely a conduit for something larger than himself. On 2025’s star, he actualizes this feeling, from trance-inspired dance exercises to minimal bass exercises accented by emo-leaning vocal performances. There’s no rulebook for 2hollis, whose fundamental inspiration on star seems to be every genre under the sun. “tell me” is a sweaty electro cut with vocals that bump up against distorted, clipping synths. hollis employs a quick, quiet rap delivery, bringing an intimacy to a style generally associated with maximal hedonism. It’s one of many moments on star when 2hollis subverts expectations, opting to explore a road that is not only less travelled, but may have existed only in his head before appearing on record.