Wave[s] by Mick Jenkins

It was just last year when Mick Jenkins released his breakthrough mixtape The Water[s], which through it's jazzy and intricate content brought quite a bit of critical acclaim for the Chicago based emcee . While he released three more mixtapes prior to his breakthrough, it wasn't until the third release, Trees & Truth, that Mick seemed to truly discover his sound. His slow paced flow, vivid imagery, and jazz inspired instrumentals have all become part of the Chicago based rapper's signature sound.

With that being said however, on Wave[s], Mick Jenkins experiments with many different elements and aspects of hip-hop music, leading to an EP that seems at times, all over the place. While the lyrical content is seemingly continued from The Water[s] with Mick discussing topics such as thirst, hydration, and on a broader scale, love and money. That is however, arguably the only similarity between the two projects, as Wave[s] sees Mick use a much less consistent beat selection, with beats that range from the likes of the trap flavoured tracks Alchemy and Piano, to the abstract drum beat found on the second track, Slumber. It appears that Mick attempted to use this variation as method to showcase his versatility, but it instead makes for a very disappointing flow in the track listing. 

One of the other big changes between Wave[s] and it's predecessor is how often we have Mick attempt to sing on his tracks. While The Water[s] saw features from The Mind, Jean Deaux, and Noname Gypsy, we only see two tracks with guests on Mick's newest release. It's nice to see an artist take on a whole project by themselves, as we've seen with recent releases such as J.Cole's 2014 Forest Hills Drive. However, in Mick's case, we see him try to take over the tracks completely and, as I mentioned earlier, bring a Kanye West style of singing onto these tracks. His vocals in these cases are very underwhelming to say the least, as it causes quite a few tracks such as Your Love, The Giver, and 40 Below to really lose their appeal.

With all these negatives, there are still a few bright points to this project. It's nice to see that Mick isn't afraid to step out of his comfort zone, and take a risk. It's also nice to see that while he brings a very different sound to this EP, his lyricism and song-writing still remains very good. We also see some more classic Mick tracks so to speak on the final two tracks P's & Q's and Perception. While they wouldn't feel out of place on one of Mick's earlier projects, they do feel a little out of place on Wave[s], as they're both really a cut above the rest of the track listing. 

For those who are going into Mick Jenkins latest release with the expectations of something as fleshed out and conceptual as The Water[s], you're going to be disappointed. That's not to say that Mick took a step backwards, but instead took a break from the sound that brought him into the eyes of the hip-hop scene, and experimented with some other aspects of the genre. As the release of his full-length debut continues to be a topic of conversation, my only hope is when it comes to delivering the album, Mick Jenkins churns out a much more complete and well put together project.

Rating: C+

Favorite Tracks: Get Up Get Down, P's & Q's, Perception

Least Favorite Tracks: Your Love, The Giver, Piano