Following last year’s Grammy-winning autobiographical solo LP, Michael, a passionate about southern masculinity, the rapper Michael Santiago Render, also half of Run The Jewels, returns with a candid, collaborative release mixing hip hop and a strong presence of gospel. He draws on sampled voices and music from heroes from Otis Redding to Muhammed Ali, the former on Bussin Bricks Intro, the latter at the beginning of Humble Me, a number heavy on God-Devil images reflecting on his arrest at an altercation with a security guard after the Grammys in February. Here he’s also developed material the album Michael, notably in Slummer 4 Junkies, a two-part, 10-minute extended meditation retelling last year’s Slummer (about the young Render’s teenage girlfriend aborting a pregnancy) and Something for Junkies (a track that looks at addiction with compassion) with additional samples of Sly and the Family Stone’s Everyday People. Piano, soul and gospel are dominant in the mix, including the fabulous standout Nobody Knows, Exit 9 (Scenic Route), which reflects on his journey, and after a dip stronger tracks in the latter half of the album, including 97 3-6 Freestyle and an update, Still Talk’n That Shit, which takes down haters. Still a powerful, articulate voice at the age of 49 in a field of much younger men. Out on Loma Vista.
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