Mick Jenkins - The Water[s]

Mick Jenkins is a 23 year old conscious rapper from the south side of Chicago, currently residing in New York. Mick Jenkins garnered some attention after the release of his last mixtape "Trees & Truth", which I truthfully have never listened to. But after seeing his name everywhere and people going crazy for this album, I decided to check it out.

The Water[s] is a concept album depicting many different scenarios where water plays a role, whether water for a bong, water in urine, water in the ocean, or the lack of water in communities. The concept of the album alone is intriguing but the more you dig in, the more you realize the complexity of the topic of such a simplistic thing.

 The album begins with sounds of the ocean and a piano melody. Before you really get a chance to internalize the setting, "The Mind" begins to sing on the track Shipwrecked. He sings "Witnessed the end of our fair lady/A million pieces lost at sea/Ruined is the crew/That's setting sail with me/Oh Lord we're sinking, God knows we fall/Set sail for Heaven, pray my soul won't get lost/Pray God accepts me, I know I'm wrong/But we've been shipwrecked, since we were born". The exceptionally poetic chorus is followed by almost an uncouth flow from Mick Jenkins speaking on his experiences as a teen cleverly delivering the lines 

"I still remember when my baby lungs blew them trees/

I still felt like a saint when I drew that breeze/

On the corners was I hangin' never bangin'/

But I knew them G's, it's been tragic/

Since Boy Meets World it's been savage/

But the goal was never really the beef, its been cabbage/

We kill for it, when we die we can't have it/

But we can't kill the habit holdin' onto this boat 'til we shipwreck"

The second verse transitions into more dramatic upbeat drums with heavy snares and sample vocals from literally out of nowhere. A vicious flow from Jenkins describes how he and his "crew" were born into the metaphorical waters and has become complacent in the water even though it will kill him. Water obviously being a metaphor for his hood and the conditions the government and the institution of racism have placed him under. He also uses the theme of water as a metaphor for his advice, claiming everyone is thirsty, which makes sense because the water they are surrounded by isn't okay to drink in both that his hood's tap water is literally not okay to drink and they are all in the ocean which doesn't have drinking water. The amount of poetic devices in this song are phenomenal and comparable to any famous poet. The lyrics laced with a wet beat truly make the listener truly feel underwater.

The song THC begins with the preachy "Drink more water" that appears throughout the whole album. This track is Jenkins talking to his audience, telling them 

"I'm gon' get you high

And honeys down the road, I'm crazy, I'm gon' get you high

Flawless gems, I'm no fugazi, I'm gon' get you high

And you ain't even gotta cop blunts

Nigga brought food for thought, so you ain't even gotta cop lunch"

This song though short, serves as an introduction into the album and gives Jenkins a chance to explain to his audience that he will bring their mental awareness higher and heal them, comparing thc to water.

The next song The Waters isn't exactly one of the album's low points as far as sound goes, but Mick Jenkins continues to deliver lyrically with each of his verses. It's also evident that Mick's vocabulary exceeds most rappers by listening to some of the words he rhymes such as rhyming "rock the boat" with "not baroque". And again the instruments on the beat seem really wet and saturated (You can even hear a squeaking sound) with his vocals doused in reverb echoing continuously, and although it's not highly catchy it does it's job by talking about how people go for gold instead of valuing water. Water in this song is a metaphor for life, so he is in essence saying people chase after riches but not their health, which may be true but he's definitely not looking at all the perspectives. Before I move on to the next track I just want to it to be let known that he calls himself Mickalas cage on this song.

Healer is one of my favorite tracks on the album. "Jean Deaux" sings and even has a verse on it and she sounds completely angelic. They each describe relationships over a slow string heavy instrumental. Mick talking about how he gets angry trying to "Wake niggas up" but when he talks to her about the ills that befall humanity it's more of a conversation and less of an argument which transitions into Jean Deaux comparing the woman's cathartic abilities to water. 

"You feel like water baby

You heal my body baby

You soothe my aching soul

This feel like water baby

This soothes my aching soul"

Jean Deaux's verse on this song is one of the most sad things I've heard in a while. She's constantly reaffirming how good he is for her, but every time he's there for her, he takes water from her after. I'd show an excerpt but that wouldn't be doing you justice because the whole verse is perfect. Please listen to it and digest it. It's not something you can just understand by listening because her delivery isn't implying any malice towards him.

Comfortable is another track that I really thinking is just so beautiful. It doesn't have a theme as prominent as other songs, but the strings on the beat with the combination of samples of birds chirping and a choir humming in the background set the scene and allows you to really become comfortable. Noname Gypsy and Jenkins combine to create one of the best hooks on the album. And each compete with laid back verses tied in over the head punchlines.

Vibe is one of the jazzier tracks and I must say some of the most impressive word play is on this track 

"Inhaling vapors, I'm painting pictures so pristine

Right on your ceiling the feeling is kinda Sistine

For the artform and never the hand clap

When that's clear you can call it Saran Wrap"

He delivers a song heavy with food for thought and even a noah's ark reference. 

On the song Jazz, which served as sort of a single for this free album, you hear Jenkins start off the album with more of the "Drink water" catchphrase he's had throughout and more of the wet jazz samples with heavy reverb while he describes what happens when you talk "that jazz" in the hood and what the hood is really like and begins to talk his own jazz.

Next is a Statik Selektah beat with less of the water and more of his scattered thoughts piled upon each other on the track Black Sheep.

"I never had no problem being transparent

Remember I was younger wishing that I had my friends parents

Back when they lied to us better, I’m on this water now

Funny how these other niggas thirsty but they watered down

They oughta drown, watching niggas run for the boat when the rain drops

How many lies can you tell yourself before the pain stops

Out here harvesting the same crop"

Drink More Water, Canada Dry & Who Else are more food for thought songs with references to water and the more he seems preach, it never comes off as too preachy and this has to do with his brash delivery which has to be influenced by him growing up in Chicago around drill rappers who are probably the polar opposite of preachy. At this moment you hear the instrumentals shifting from jazzy to more harsh and boom bappy. Jenkins flow is become highly aggressive. He makes you want to hear his opinion and his many different stories. 

The album transitions into Dehydration which is arguably the worst song on the album. He bites flows from chief keef and migos and it's pretty cringe worthy. The hook on this is god awful and the beat seems like something drake would rap over during his so far gone stage. And by this point, him telling people to drink water has gotten stale.

514 has a darker beat and shows a more militant and scary Mick Jenkins. While the hook is less catchy it's still a good song and quite lyrical. He raps over it 

"I learned this, back when they was servin' us free lunch

System 'bout as foul as a free throw
Tell me what the fuck a nigga know about a free thought
If everything that he thought stem from a remote
This is so that he know"

Martyrs is the most preachy song on the album. It samples Carmen McRae's version of strange fruit, and it would do it justice if his lyrics didn't go at girls having sex and wearing weave, and dudes pursuing money and wanting to have money.

Jerome is by far the song with the best delivery. It has a feature from Joey Bada$$ and Kirk Knight who also produced the beat. Jenkins kind of steals Joey's flow, but it works because of Jenkin's already deep raspy voice and it makes the listener feel the energy.

Overall this album is an 8.5/10, there weren't very many low points, but this album could definitely do without some of the songs. The theme of water kind of got trashed and just became a buzzword towards the end. Although I love the song Jerome, it really didn't make sense to end with it. I'm scared for Jenkin's future. Even though this was such a great album, I feel like he won't abandon these topics and evolve. He is very critical of the world around him and he has yet to really talk about him as a person and how his environment has impacted him to act or how he has really impacted others. I hope he uses his future projects to voice that.

What did you think of this album? Did you love it? Did you hate it? Did you think I was too harsh? Did you think I rode it?