Otep
I’m Still Here
August 9th, 2026
SOUNDCLOUD LINK
“The Void Is A Dishonest Friend.”
OTEP Returns After Two-Year Hiatus With Haunting New Single “I’m Still Here”
After nearly two years of musical silence, OTEP has returned with new music, but perhaps not in the form longtime fans were expecting. Released August 9, 2026, “I’m Still Here” marks Otep Shamaya’s first new music since 2023’s underappreciated album “The God Slayer” and signals the beginning of another chapter for an artist who has spent more than two decades refusing to be confined by expectations. Rather than immediately returning to the crushing metal, rap-infused aggression and confrontational intensity that have long defined OTEP’s sound, “I’m Still Here” strips much of that familiar heaviness away.
The new track unfolds as a haunting combination of spoken word, rap and balladry, carried by jazz-inspired beats and somber piano chords. The arrangement leaves considerable space for Otep’s voice and words to take center stage, giving the song an intimate, almost confessional atmosphere. It’s a significant departure, but not necessarily an unfamiliar one.
Poetry, spoken word and deeply personal storytelling have always existed beneath the heavier elements of OTEP’s music. On “I’m Still Here,” those qualities are pushed completely into the foreground. Instead of screaming over distorted guitars and pounding drums, Otep allows restraint, rhythm and atmosphere to provide the weight. The result feels less like an attempt to recreate an earlier era of OTEP and more like an artist reintroducing herself on her own terms.
For longtime listeners, “I’m Still Here” offers a glimpse at another side of an artist whose career has consistently blurred the boundaries between music, poetry, performance art and social commentary. For listeners discovering OTEP for the first time, the track provides an unexpectedly accessible entry point into the intensely personal writing that has always been at the heart of her work.
More importantly, its title carries a simple but unmistakable message after two years away: OTEP is still here.
“I’m Still Here” is available now through OTEP’s SoundCloud
