Philadelphia punk meets hip-hop in one of the strangest sample-heavy records you’ll hear this year.

Old City’s self-titled record is one of those albums that immediately grabs your attention simply because of how unusual its foundation is. Hailing from Philadelphia, Old City have built an entire musical identity around an idea that sounds almost ridiculous on paper: take decades of punk rock, chop it up, manipulate it, and rebuild those sounds into a hip-hop record.

Somehow, it works.

There are obvious comparisons to records like the Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique, DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing….., and The Avalanches’ Since I Left You, but Old City take that sample-heavy philosophy and apply it almost entirely to punk. The result is a bizarre collision of hip-hop production, punk attitude, Philadelphia energy, and decades of underground music history.

The amount of material being pulled from is honestly impressive. Proto-punk, The Stooges, pop-punk, Green Day, blink-182, crust punk through Amebix, doom and heavier sounds associated with Conan, skate punk through Pennywise, and hardcore influences connected to bands like Dead Kennedys and Black Flag all find their way into the record. And that's before you get into the strings, piano, jazz, classical instrumentation, field recordings, and atmospheric elements that Old City use to fill out the album.

The sampling is easily the biggest strength of Self-Titled. There is a constant feeling of discovery because you never quite know what you're going to hear next.

The opening stretch is also where the album feels the most immediately accessible. “Jump Off,” “Anthem,” “Sixers,” “Get Sued,” and “Class Act” establish the concept quickly without overcomplicating it. Punk riffs become rhythmic foundations, recognizable sounds are chopped into unexpected places, and hip-hop vocals sit naturally over material that originally belonged to an entirely different musical world.

What makes this more impressive is that the punk samples don't simply feel like references thrown into the songs for nostalgia. Old City understand that they're working with source material that already has an identity, and they manipulate those sounds enough to make them function within a completely different context.

That gives Self-Titled a playful quality during its opening section. There's a lot of energy here, and even when the songs aren't particularly complicated, there's always something interesting happening in the background.

But the album becomes more difficult as it progresses.

“Guilt Free” introduces a darker and more politically charged atmosphere, moving away from some of the straightforward fun of the opening tracks. The production becomes stranger, the transitions become more atmospheric, and the record starts feeling less like a collection of catchy hip-hop songs and more like an experimental collage.

“DK3” continues that shift, while “Crossfire” pushes the chaotic side of Old City almost too far. The frantic production and rapid vocal delivery create plenty of energy, but there is a point where the different pieces begin fighting against one another. Instead of making the track feel unpredictable, the chaos occasionally makes it difficult to follow.

That's one of the recurring problems with Self-Titled: Old City have so many ideas that not every idea feels completely developed.

Sometimes that works in their favor. Other times, it makes the album feel like you're listening to a collection of experiments rather than a completely finished statement.

Then “Prey” arrives, and suddenly the entire concept makes sense.

Featuring Descendents, Conflict, and Baz The Frenchman, “Prey” feels like the centerpiece of Self-Titled. Rather than immediately relying on a catchy sample and a beat, the song takes its time building an atmosphere. Piano, strings, flutes, distant instrumentation, and darker textures gradually create tension before the vocals eventually lock into the composition.

This is where Old City demonstrate that their concept can be much more than a gimmick.

“Prey” doesn't simply sound like punk samples placed over hip-hop production. It sounds like Old City are taking the emotional language of those samples and using them as building blocks for something completely new. The song almost feels cinematic, and the patience shown in its arrangement makes it stand out from some of the more straightforward material earlier in the album.

It also helps make the record's larger structure easier to understand.

After the frantic opening and darker middle section, the latter part of Self-Titled begins moving inward. “Pipebomb,” “Hollaback,” “Apollo Kids,” “Jumper,” and “Whiteout” gradually trade some of the album's earlier aggression for a much more introspective atmosphere.

This section is definitely less consistent, but there are some fascinating ideas buried inside it.

“Apollo Kids” almost feels like lounge music, with smoother bass, restrained drums, and a much more relaxed atmosphere. It's a dramatic change from the chaotic punk sampling that dominates the beginning, but that change gives the album some much-needed breathing room.

“Jumper” pushes that melancholy even further. Soft strings, male and female vocals, a heartbeat, and what sounds like a blink-182 influence combine into something unexpectedly emotional.

This is another important moment because the punk sampling stops feeling like the entire point of the song. Instead, the source material becomes part of the emotional atmosphere. The samples aren't simply there for listeners to recognize—they help shape how the song feels.

That's when Self-Titled is at its best.

The record becomes much more interesting when Old City stop trying to show you how much punk they can sample and start using those sounds as actual musical ingredients.

“Whiteout” takes that idea even further. The distant sound of waves, eerie drums, deep bass, heavy riffs, and cold atmosphere create a slow and ominous ending. Compared with the energetic opening of “Jump Off,” it's almost like listening to an entirely different record.

And honestly, I appreciate that.

The album doesn't follow the safest possible path. Old City could have made an entire record of recognizable punk samples, straightforward beats, and references designed to make listeners point out what they recognize. Instead, they gradually move into stranger and more atmospheric territory.

The problem is that the experimentation doesn't always land.

“Get Sued” stretches its central idea a little longer than necessary, while “Crossfire” becomes so frantic that the individual components begin losing their impact. Some of the later production also feels thinner than the material deserves. There are moments where the album sounds like it could have benefited from another round of editing, mixing, or arrangement.

That's ultimately what keeps Self-Titled from reaching the next level for me.

The concept is stronger than the execution in places.

There is no shortage of creativity here. If anything, there may be too much creativity fighting for space. Old City clearly have an enormous musical vocabulary, and their willingness to pull from everything from hardcore and crust to pop-punk, doom, proto-punk, hip-hop, jazz, and classical music makes the record genuinely unpredictable.

But unpredictability doesn't automatically equal cohesion.

There are songs where every sample, beat, vocal, and transition feels carefully chosen. Then there are others where I found myself wondering whether the band had simply discovered a cool sound and decided to leave it in.

Still, I would much rather listen to an album that takes a weird swing and occasionally misses than one that plays everything completely safe.

And Self-Titled is absolutely a weird swing.

Old City aren't simply making a hip-hop album with punk samples. They're attempting to create a musical conversation between two cultures that have always shared more DNA than people sometimes realize. Punk has always been about attitude, rebellion, DIY creativity, and challenging established structures, while hip-hop has its own long history of sampling, reinterpretation, collage, and turning existing sounds into something new.

Old City understand that connection.

The Philadelphia setting also feels appropriate. There is a rawness and underground sensibility throughout the record that keeps it from feeling like a sterile sampling exercise. Even when the production becomes experimental, there is still an underlying sense of punk attitude holding everything together.

The strongest moments—particularly “Prey,” “Jumper,” and “Whiteout”—show just how far this concept can go when Old City allow themselves to build atmosphere rather than simply stack references.

At the same time, the weaker moments demonstrate the danger of having such a broad musical palette. When too many ideas are introduced without enough focus, the album can lose its sense of direction.

Ultimately, Self-Titled is an ambitious and genuinely creative record that doesn't always stick the landing. The sampling is impressive, the concept is unique, and there is a constant sense of discovery throughout the album. The best moments feel like Old City have taken pieces of punk history and completely rebuilt them into something new.

The weaker moments feel more like experiments that needed another pass.

“Jump Off,” “Anthem,” “Sixers,” “Get Sued,” “Class Act,” “Guilt Free,” “DK3,” “Crossfire,” “Prey,” “Pipebomb,” “Hollaback,” “Apollo Kids,” “Jumper,” and “Whiteout” collectively create a record that refuses to sit comfortably inside one genre. Sometimes that makes Self-Titled messy, but it also makes it interesting.

And honestly, that's probably the biggest compliment I can give it.

I don't think Self-Titled is perfect, and I don't think every experiment works. But I also don't think Old City are trying to make something safe. They're taking the sampling philosophy of classic hip-hop and applying it to decades of punk history in a way that feels distinctly their own.

A fascinating collision of Philadelphia hip-hop and punk history that occasionally gets lost in its own experimentation, but when Old City find the balance between sampling, atmosphere, and songwriting, Self-Titled becomes something genuinely unique.