“Thank God For The Waters”: Mick Jenkins

http://mickjenkins.com/

As a pretty run-of-the-mill Bro-Ster (Yes, I’ve accepted it.  Clarification here) from Nevada, I’ve honestly never been exposed to much hip hop. Of course I’ve been shown some of the main artists Kanye, Jay-Z, a bit of Odd Future here and there, with a little bit of older stuff mixed in too. But to be honest, I’ve never really felt a connection to hip hop and the mass of ego fueled rappers out there. That is until I found Mick Jenkins.

Mick Jenkins was shown to me one night, out of the blue, when the party had died down, the last beers were being nursed as if they were the last brews on the planet, and Steven, who I had never met before that night, put on Jenkins’ 2014 LP The Waters. I’ll be honest, the opening track “Shipwrecked” didn’t really register until the drums and Mick finally dropped in. A simplistic, somewhat Lo-Fi beat, accompanied by Mick’s calm, clear, and well-collected flow really hit me. My attention was peaked, so as soon as I got around to the second track “THC”, I was already deeply entrenched in what Mick Jenkins was doing with his music.

http://mickjenkins.com/

Being both super chill and a bit gritty at the same time this Chicago-based rapper creates a perfect balance within his tunes. Best example is the title track of The Waters, where Jenkins spits some great intricate lyrics over the most minimalistic accompaniments, bringing both a sobering (“Drink More Water”) and exciting vibe to the track. You’ll get lost in trying to crack the cipher Jenkins spits and get blindsided by the hook that drops a huge bass line, thicker synth and electric piano parts, all accompanied by Jenkins actually getting some R&B style vocals in. Seriously, if you’re looking for a good way to start your journey into the depths of Hip Hop and R&B, put on these first three songs and you’ll be in the perfect mindset to follow the flows of just about anyone.

When you’re ready for more go check out my favorite section of the album: “Vibe” to “Jazz” to “Black Sheep”. It’s here in The Waters where Mick Jenkins really earned my long-time fandom. Starting with “Vibe” Mick drops in a really jazzy and dissonant piano part that hardly has any attack [Almost sounds like a VIBEraphone (sorry know that one was terrible)] but brings in just enough to keep the atmosphere of the song very full of sound. Then Mike drops in some absolutely sick, twisty and choppy flows that sound great against the accompaniment. Next up is my personal favorite “Jazz” where Jenkins provides a sweet and sobering look into his perspective of life in Chicago and being a rapper. He also makes sure to shout out many of the most important Jazz musicians in human history, personally giving me an even bigger connection to the song. Put up against a great dissonant, almost out of tune guitar part and more soft electric piano chords, “Jazz” really is a perfect, chilling, and gritty tune. Then Jenkins makes sure to switch it up with “Black Sheep” where he drops in a lighter backbeat but accelerates the drums just a bit so that Mick’s flows tend to hit in front of the beat and bring in an on-point vibe that rare for the album. Add in a sweet, phaser’d out, inky, dripping with a ton of echo and ‘verb guitar backing lick and you’ve got a great way to round up the three tunes. There really isn’t that much more to say except “Drink More Water”.

Go buy it now: Itunes, Spotify, Youtube, Soundcloud.

Thanks for reading, keep on listening,

 

Casey Frasca

 

P.s. Thanks Steven. Perfect intro into the world of hip hop.