Wish I knew what the real, secret name of this song was, but I can’t figure it out. Some things are better left mysterious. This is art, after all.
6LACK is often dismissed as an “industry plant,” but the reality is this cat has been paying dues in the trenches longer than most of his Extremely Online critics have been breathing. (The name is just plain “Black” when you read it out loud, although “Six-Lack” seems like a missed opportunity in retrospect.)
Much like the TDE team, his style was honed through years of being a studio rat, constantly recording, collaborating and learning the ropes face-first. Unlike the claustrophobia of Terrence Henderson’s boot camp approach, 6LACK’s education came from hundreds of mentors, a truly bi-coastal education with Atlanta as the melting pot hub where it all came together.
His contempt for the rap game, then, is both earnest & earned. He’s more of a singer-songwriter type dude than a rapper anyway, approaching his verses with the calculated control of an old-school R&B artiste. This track is no exception. This is neither mumble rap nor emo bullshit.
I sympathize with anyone who finds this video kinda corny & too precious, but as cutting edge Rap Product in an industry that’s getting weirder every month? It’s perfect, and his performance is perfectly pitched. It’s impossible to kill onstage without the basic tradecraft toolkit of an actor, and befitting Wakanda’s current sci-fi androgynous dress code, the costume department nailed the look here. Standing out in a field so full of personality disorders and attention addicts must be exhausting as hell.
The vibe is the foundation, though, not the dress code. Props to Los Hendrix & Slimwave on delivering the goods. Sure, it’s a formula, but they’re absolutely nailing it. Unlike 95% of this laid-back club renaissance era, it all sounds more like a band deep in the pocket than a laptop having seizures.
It’s impossible to fault this for anything other than being a product of a depressing time. 6LACK remains at the forefront of a lane he helped to pave. He’s an R&B artist these days, but nobody ever quits rapping. Four Dickies.
