Pieces of A Man feels resoundingly fresh and against the grain. It’s more charismatic than what’s considered conscious rap, yet more straightforward and streamlined than the usually top-heavy conscious ideas we get today from our paragons.
With Pieces of a Man, Jenkins is surely having his own Frank Ocean-esque moment — he’s expressing himself on his own terms with poignant lyricism and nuance.
Jenkins delivers consistently strong rhymes on this album, while using the extended track list for some more ambient tracks.
Borrowing a title and sometimes a tone from Gil Scott-Heron, the Chicago rapper explores religion, consensual sex, and himself.
There is always so much to unpack on each project Mick Jenkins drops. From his alliterative rhyme patterns to his wonderfully woven metaphors and his thought-provoking words, Jenkins finds creative ways to keep the audience glued to his music.
Sure, it would've been nice for Jenkins to offer even more such insightful commentary on this LP, rather than devoting the bulk of his lyrics to braggadocio. But this creative, star-studded album nevertheless showcases Jenkins' potential to fill the late Scott-Heron's shoes as a rap poet laureate.
The elusive Chicago MC’s latest could use some musical tightening but his neurosis remains compelling.
Mick tends to have a one-record wonder reputation, a bit of a crude descriptor implying that The Water[s] is the only release of his worth a shit. Yes, there is a semblance of truth considering that no other record in his discog approaches the same level of consistency or quality as Water[s]. But, if holding onto that belief means avoiding songs like Gwendolynn's Apprehension, Padded Locks, Pull Up, U Turn and Understood? Yeah, missing out on those is a net negative, Mick can still make a good ... read more
Never been much of a Mick Jenkins fan, but I do think this new record is his best offering to date. A lot of the issues I’ve took with his past works have been majorly improved here. The biggest examples the melodies. Mick Jenkins has an incredible hook-writing ability that he has rarely showcased up until this point. He still brings his rhymes, but relies on features a lot less. I still think he runs into trouble when he crams too many syllables into a bar (The Nas Effect), but not as ... read more
Mick's pen was so smooth, not many better when he's in his bag. Need a whole album of him on these kind of Kaytranada beats
1 | Heron Flow 3:17 feat. Julian Bell | 100 |
2 | Stress Fracture 3:13 feat. Mikahl Anthony | 64 |
3 | Gwendolynn's Apprehension 3:45 | 76 |
4 | Soft Porn 3:42 | 59 |
5 | Grace & Mercy 1:51 | 52 |
6 | Barcelona 2:34 | 65 |
7 | Percy Interlude 0:44 | 37 |
8 | Reginald 2:48 feat. Ben Hixon | 66 |
9 | Padded Locks 3:45 feat. Ghostface Killah | 70 |
10 | Ghost 3:34 | 68 |
11 | Heron Flow 2 2:09 | 86 |
12 | Plain Clothes 3:51 | 66 |
13 | Pull Up 4:27 | 62 |
14 | Consensual Seduction 3:46 feat. Corinne Bailey Rae | 59 |
15 | U Turn 2:46 | 66 |
16 | Understood 3:28 | 71 |
17 | Smoking Song 3:31 feat. BADBADNOTGOOD | 60 |
#28 | / | Uproxx |
#29 | / | BLARE |
#48 | / | Bandcamp Daily |