This album was released on October 26th this year. Mick Jenkins’ last album, The Healing Component, was one of the better albums I heard in 2016, so I’m expecting this to be dope. I’ve seen some praise for it on Twitter, which is a good sign, and I’ve liked all the promotional singles that I’ve heard for it. The production credits are a good sign too. I think I’m gonna really enjoy this.

Tracklist

1. Heron Flow featuring Julien Bell produced by THEMpeople & Dee Lilly
2. Stress Fracture featuring Mikahl Anthony produced by Black Milk
3. Gwendolynn’s Apprehension produced by Black Milk
4. Soft Porn produced by THEMpeople & OV
5. Grace & Mercy produced by Nez & Rio
6. Barcelona produced by Nissim
7. Percy Interlude
8. Reginald featuring Ben Hixon produced by Awhlee
9. Padded Locks featuring Ghostface Killah produced by Kaytranada
10. Ghost produced by THEMpeople, OV & Dee Lilly
11. Heron Flow 2 produced by THEMpeople
12. Plain Clothes produced by High Klassified
13. Pull Up featuring Green Sllime & THEMpeople
14. Consensual Seduction featuring Corinne Bailey Rae produced by STLNDRMS & Dee Lilly
15. U Turn produced by THEMpeople & Ben Hixon
16. Understood produced by Kaytranada & Alexander Sowinski
17. Smoking Song produced by BADBADNOTGOOD & THEMpeople

The first half of the opening track is just Mick Jenkins talking to a crowd about how he’s gonna give them food for thought. It’s followed by some jazzy instrumentation and outroductory vocals from Julien Bell. It’s a decent intro. It’s not something I’d ever listen to again though. I like the jazzy production on the following track, Stress Fracture. There’s only one verse, which is pretty solid. The hook is nice, and the vocals from Mikahl Anthony weren’t bad. It’s a pretty good song. I really love the beat on Gwendolynn’s Apprehension. It kinda sounds like something I’d hear in an old video game. The hook is nothing special, but it works. The first verse was cool. The second verse was nice. It’s another dope song. I’m not blown away by it, but it’s definitely good. The beat on Soft Porn is really dope. I like the hook, and Mick’s energetic delivery during the verses is really nice. It’s a good song. Grace & Mercy is the shortest song on the album. It’s under two minutes long. It sounds really different from everything else on the album so far. It sounds like it has some Trap influence. It’s a really bass-heavy track. It’s dope though. There’s only one verse, but it’s really good. I have no problems with the track. It’s dope. Barcelona is a pretty short song too. The beat kinda reminds me of something FlyLo would produce. It’s jazzy with a slight electronic influence. The entire song is just one verse. It’s a pretty good track. I feel like it’s kind of skeletal structurally, but it wasn’t really an issue for me. The Percy interlude was pretty unnecessary. There’s really no reason to talk about it.

The jazzy production on Reginald is cool. His rapping on that track is really great. I’m not really sure what Ben Hixon’s contribution to the song was. I didn’t hear anyone’s voice other than Mick’s. Maybe he just helped with the production. That wouldn’t explain why he’s credited as a feature. I guess it doesn’t really matter though. I like the song.

The production from Kaytranada on Padded Locks didn’t really impress me that much, but it was decent. Mick killed the first verse. The second verse from Ghostface was pretty good. His voice sounds great over that beat. I think it’s a pretty good song. I wish the production was a little less repetitive, but the song’s still enjoyable. The jazzy beat on Ghost is pretty nice. The song’s got a simplistic structure. The hook isn’t that memorable, but the verses are dope. It’s a good song. Heron Flow 2 is more of what was on the first track. He’s talking to a crowd before a soft jazz instrumental starts playing. The production on Plain Clothes is really dope, and I love the sung hook. It’s the most sonically entertaining song on the album so far. There’s only one verse, which is pretty good. It’s easily my favorite track on the album so far. I have no gripes with it. It’s dope af. The beat on Pull Up is pretty chill. I saw someone say it sounds like something you would hear in a save room in a Resident Evil game, which I can kinda see. The first verse was dope. That line about cold cuts was great. The second verse was good too. I don’t have any problems with the song. It’s dope. The beat on Consensual Seduction is really nice. The first verse from Mick was really dope. The hook is nothing special though. The second verse from Corinne Bailey Rae was cool. I like the song, but it’s not that great to me. It’s probably my least favorite song on the album so far. It’s not bad at all though. I like it. The beat on U Turn is really nice. The hook’s fine. I don’t really have anything to say about the song to be honest. There are just two verses, which are pretty good. I think it’s a dope track. There’s just not really much to discuss.

I’m pretty sure Understood was the first single released from this album. It’s dope. I don’t really have much to say about it. I like the beat from Kaytranada. It’s definitely a step up from the previous Kaytranada beat on this album. The hook’s nothing special, but it works. The two verses are good. It’s a dope song. The final track has a really great beat. BBNG and Mick Jenkins always come through with dope shit. The hook is pretty underwhelming, but the two verses are dope. It’s another dope song. I fuck with it.

This album is pretty great. There’s only one song on this project that really blew me away, but there’s not a single song on here that I thought was bad or even just average. It’s a far less melodic project than his debut album. The rapping is really dope though. The production isn’t as impressive as that of The Healing Component in my opinion, but it’s not bad. I think that Bruce Banner song he released a while ago is a lot better than most of the material on this project. This is a really consistent album though. There aren’t any bad songs. I don’t really have any gripes with this album. He probably could’ve shortened a little bit, but other than that I think this is a really good project. It’s dope.

Favorite Song: Plain Clothes
Least Favorite Song: Consensual Seduction

80