If the last few years were any indication, Chicago would basically be out of young, promising rappers. Pretty much everywhere you look, there's a Chicago MC making moves, whether's any of the members of Save Money (Chance the Rapper, Vic Mensa, Leather Corduroys, etc.) Alex Wiley, or Lil Herb, to say nothing of the more straightforward, now-practically elder statesmen drill pioneers King L and Chief Keef. But there's still a working fount of creativity in the city.
Mick Jenkins' EP The Water[s] was low-key one of the better rap releases of 2014, moving beyond its obvious aquatic metaphors (and debt to Kendrick Lamar) to tell a rich story supported by Jenkins' low growl. Now, he's back with "P's & Q's," the first video and track from his follow-up, Wave[s]. Produced by rising Chicago producer Kaytranada (who has also done good work for Mensa), the track is an alliterative slow burn, with a video (directed by Nathan R. Smith) that manages to succeed as an understated instantiation of the long-take trend. Embedding on the video is disabled, so check out the video for "P's & Q's" above and listen to "Jazz," one of the best cuts from The Water[s], below.
Image via Noisey.
