Chicago MC Mick Jenkins Brings Hard Hitting Rhymes and Rhetoric to 7th Street Entry

Chicago rapper and philosopher of sorts, Mick Jenkins, played to a sold out crowd at First Avenue's 7th Street Entry on Monday.  The intimate venue was well suited for hip-hop and as soon as I entered the crowd had very high energy.  The opening DJ STWO payed numerous contemporary hit which had the crowd excited and singing along.  The opening acts The Mind and J Stock did little more for the crowd other than build anticipation for the main act.

Jenkins did not keep the crowd waiting as he took fewer than five minutes to take the stage after J Stock's set. He immediately jumped in to one of the lead singles from his latest EP Wave[s], Alchemy which was well received by the young and diverse crowd.  Jenkins followed the opener up with a few other cuts from Wave[s] until he stopped to speak to the crowd.

Mick Jenkins is an extremely well spoken and conscious rapper and his intelligence showed in his numerous monologues throughout the night.  Before he played tracks from his most famous mixtape, The Water[s], Jenkins hyped the crowd with a little bit of call-and-response followed by an eloquent explanation of the meaning behind the water metaphor.  He talked about the water as truth and likened the phrase "drink more water" to "seek more truth."  He talked on the importance of the truth in an age where social media constructions and media spin dominate public opinion.  Although some might have seen these talks as long-winded, I was quite intrigued.

After a few more songs from Wave[s], Jenkins let the crowd know that his latest EP was always intended to be a "tie-over" piece in anticipation of his upcoming commercial debut, [T]he [H]ealing [C]omponent.  He went on to explain that his newest project will consist of 13 songs which each cover a different topic.  From race relations to love, Jenkins promised a more focused project than anything that has preceded it.  Jenkins then went into arguably his biggest hit, THC from The Water[s].  Jenkins ended the high-energy set with Free Nation Rebel Soldier from his first mixtape, Trees and Truth, followed by a Social Network which was released as a collaboration with the Chicago group, Hurt Everybody.  It was a banging, bouncing end to a great night.

© 2015 Cameron Mielke

REVIEWER BIAS: I will admit that I am a pretty avid Mick Jenkins fan and I thought that The Water[s] was the best hip-hop mixtape of 2014.  I went in to the concert not knowing what to expect given my lukewarm feelings on Wave[s], but I was pleasantly surprised by his stage presence and passion for what he raps about.