Last year was a pretty great year for Chicago rapper, Mick Jenkins. His tape The Water[s] got a lot of positive feedback, and he was quickly placed alongside contemporaries such as Chance the Rapper when it came to promising new talent in the rap game. As you may know, I was also a pretty big fan of that tape. In short, Mick really brought himself to the front, displaying a knack for great flows, beat choices, and messages.
Going into this new EP, I had heard that he changed his style up, which can either mean that a rapper has decided to try on some more mainstream clothes, or that they are going even farther into the left-field. However, it isn't that simple for Mick on Wave[s]. While there are certainly moments here that lean a bit more to the mainstream, "Piano", "Your Love", "Alchemy"; there are also plenty of moments that could only be identified as a Mick Jenkins track, such as the closer and the track "Get Up Get Down" which has such a great banger beat and some immaculate flows to boot.
Mick also tries his hand at singing on this album, though it's more like recent Drake in the way he presents it; just a way to spice up an otherwise flow heavy rap song. To me, Mick is sounding better than ever rap wise on this EP, but some of the choruses don't work out quite so well. The main culprits here are "The Giver" which is just kind of limp, and the track "Piano" is a bit to simple and short as well.
Honestly, I found a lot to like on this EP and it has me even more excited for whatever full length projects Mick has planned for the future. Some people may think he strayed to far from what his last tape did, with it's subterranean beats and flows, but I think this is a nice contrast to what that tape had to offer, so now we'll just have to see how those two worlds mix.
8.0/10
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