P's & Q's [Prod. by Kaytranada]
Amidst an always overcrowded landscape of emcees, Mick Jenkins has consistently stood out as a messiah of sorts for the rap game. The Chicago emcee’s debut mixtape, The Water(s), was an incredibly cohesive and thoughtful piece of work that displayed a level of lyrical depth years beyond his peers. So, it’s little surprise that when he teams up with one of the most forward-thinking producers in the game, Kaytranada, the results are mind-blowing. Their last collab, “The Rain,” was one of the best hip-hop tracks of last year.
Yesterday, Jenkins presented his latest single “P’s & Q’s” continuing his evolution into a thought-leader to be reckoned with. Kaytranada crafts an instrumental that, although still maintains his future bounce style, is driven by a smooth looping guitar lick. As always, Jenkins sticks to his motifs spitting bars that play off the letters of the song’s title. It’s not just a gimmick, though, Mick truly ties the narrative together spewing knowledge about being genuine and true to yourself while engulfed by deterrents.
The accompanying visuals, directed by Nathan Smith, couldn’t be a better fit for the message of the song as Mick stays calm amidst a chaotic whirlwind that surrounds him. That sense of inner peace through disaster seems to be a theme found through out Jenkins music and we’d highly recommend dropping everything you’re doing to watch the moving video in fullscreen below. Jenkins follow-up to The Water(s) is coming sooner than you think and it’s definitely on the top of our list of hip-hop projects to look out for.
