Chicago wordsmith of largely unparalleled penmanship, Mick Jenkins is starting off the new decade with an expectedly thought-provoking leading single to forthcoming project, The Circus, out this Friday. Carefree rides the kind of low-fidelity jazz beat that we’ve come to expect from Jenkins, whose lyricism and flow expectedly take center stage over their minimalist backdrop. Lyrically and thematically, the single is a racially charged, socially motivated track that brings hip-hop back to its roots as a voice too powerful to only be used for the trendy lanes it often slips into. Mick Jenkins, as one of the most gifted hip-hop poets in the modern scene, is the kind of rapper whose work commands respect, requires listening, and evokes raw thought and emotionality above all else.

 

But even outside its deeper nuances, it’s still a hard-hitting hip-hop anthem. And that’s always been the genius of Mick Jenkins. At a time when such a lane is as necessary as ever, Mick Jenkins is able to infuse pure, grass-roots hip-hop with meaning and statement, introducing his listeners to the bold and necessary lane that’s to follow when The Circus gets released.