By: Neil MacAlister and Sam Mumford
The Autobiography by Vic Mensa
Grammy-nominated Vic Mensa dropped his newest album just last month. This is Mensa’s first official album, only having a few singles and EPs previously. His most recent EP was There’s Alot Going On which gave us hits like “Liquor Locker” and “16 Shots.” In Mensa’s new album, he speaks about being a rapper growing up in Chicago: with the problems and troubled childhood, it seems like it was a never-ending roller coaster of extremes. When Mensa isn’t vocalizing his first heartbreak and summer memories in songs like “Coffee & Cigarettes” or “Memories on 47th St.,” he’s informing listeners of is alcohol- and drug-riddled rise to stardom and the consequences of his lifestyle. Lastly, Mensa raps about his mental health in the song, “Wings,” where he speaks on his depression, his anxiety, and his struggles with suicide. Though perhaps not the lightest album by any means, The Autobiography is a great album nonetheless. – SM.
Rags by EarthGang
Atlanta’s Spillage Village collective is massively on the come-up. After 6LACK broke decade-long label trappings and released his 2016 debut via LoveRenaissance, J.I.D. signed to J. Cole’s Dreamville Records label earlier this year and dropped The Never Story. It was one of this year’s most impressive albums, and now the rising rap duo EarthGang has followed J.I.D. onto Dreamville, where they’re set to release a trilogy of EPs and an album in the coming months.
The first of these EPs, Rags, is a fascinating sign of what’s to come. EarthGang’s Doctor Dot and Johnny Venus are both remarkable MCs: telling frank, personal stories and exploring issues of historical racism, the trappings of fame, and their own lives growing up in Atlanta. EarthGang has an existential, psychedelic-fuelled bend to their unconventional hip-hop. They’re like the South’s answer to NY’s Flatbush Zombies, as they wax philosophical over woozy, ethereal production. J.I.D. starts off the tape with an absolutely stellar, rapid-fire verse, and Chicago rapper Mick Jenkins gives an unexpected appearance on the EP’s closer, “House.” He brings his own brand of evocative, dense lyricism to a brief project filled with intricate writing and emotional delivery. – NM.
Blue Chips 7000 by Action Bronson
When Action Bronson started his Blue Chips trilogy he was a former chef-turned-rapper just starting to make it into the big-time. The followup, Blue Chips 2, escalated the New York MC into international acclaim. It remains Bronson’s most highly regarded tape, both for his evolving lyrical ability and producer Party Supplies’ fantastic, sample-heavy production.
Lately, however, Bronson’s rapping has taken a backseat: his major label debut, 2015’s Mr. Wonderful, was a noticeable step down, and he’s since focussed more on television rather than music. Blue Chips 7000 has more in common with Mr. Wonderful than the rest of the Blue Chips series: Bronson just seems less inspired, even when he’s rapping about eating lobster on a plane, driving eighteen-wheelers through your living room, or spitting an impromptu freestyle over a generic call-waiting tune. The production, though, provided by frequent collaborators like Alchemist or Harry Fraud, just doesn’t have that sample-heavy flair that Party Supplies could bring to a not-for-profit mixtape. There are high points on the album, most notably in tracks like “The Choreographer” and the soulful Rick Ross-assisted “9-24-7000.”
However, Bronson just seems to have lost some of the spark that made him such an enigmatic musician. – NM.
