In 2019, the world was a simpler place. But even pre-pandemic and everything that it brought in tow, Ron Obasi’s music was already vivid, complex, and unique, perpetually ahead of its time - or perhaps simply timeless - as a source of authenticity, poetry, and dedication to the heart of its protagonist’s craft. Notes on a Scale - the Nashville-rooted rapper’s second EP of that year, overflowing with the lyrical propensity that made Good Rapz a standout track that would shine a light on just where it was he was taking his rasp-ridden, meditatively-minded signature in the years to come - was an opportunity to showcase his depth through a kaleidoscope of sonic spaces grounded in hard-nosed poeticism for just four tracks. A deep-dive spanning 13 minutes. An immaculate introduction.

In 2020, he repeated his effort. Again alongside longtime friend, confident, producer, and engineer, MixedByCole - whose contributions to Nashville’s ever-evolving, deepening, and strengthening hip-hop and Neo-Soul thread are nearly unparalleled - Notes on a Scale II, again through four tracks, highlighted the vast soundscape across which Obasi’s sharpening steel was helping to shape an emergent renaissance in Central Tennessee. Good Rapz II gained traction as another standout track, bringing his necessary additions to a hip-hop scene at large that was - and continues to be - in need of the authentic, lyrical, mindful force for creative dynamism. His music had elevated in the year since Notes on a Scale. His lyricism was even more cunning, his flow was dialed into an irreplaceable signature. And now he was pushing hip-hop to elevate, too, towards a soundscape where rappers weave storyline with purpose all without losing its stylistic intrigue.

It’s been three years since Notes on a Scale’s last iteration, but Ron Obasi is back for round three. ‘Trilogies. Trinities. The trillest of things,’ he wrote about the project’s release with the expectedly minimal strength in his words where no breath goes wasted on unnecessary verbal ornamentation, yet all things said shine with a clever bite. However, the project isn’t the first thing he’s released since its predecessor. Quite to the contrary, he’s been anything but absent. Obasi has been busy with a steady bombardment of singles, videos, and projects (Sun Tapes and WHYSOSERIUS?), expanding his craft wider across stylistic borders, and lyrically and thematically deeper into his own consciousness. The breadth aligning with his personal life, Obasi’s expanding artistry reflects the changes and growth in his personhood, and fatherhood, too.

Akin to its predecessors, Notes on a Scale 3 is here to shine a light on where it is that Obasi is now, creatively exhibiting his range, his lyricism, and his ever-blooming stylistic signature through four quick-cutting tracks. Again with MixedByCole tying it all together behind the curtain, and also weaving in a trio of wide-ranging features, NOAS3 broods with an outspoken bite that underlines its entirety. Obasi is bored with your lack of recognition, and he’s taking his lyrically-entrenched, quick-firing style to the hardest hitting of heights.