Mic Capes “Concrete Dreams”/ “Caught Slippin’”
In a modern-day hip hop landscape where bombastic beats and over-the-top personalities tend to score the most attention, in effect, re-triggering the increasingly tiresome complaint of the genre once again being on life support, hearing a rap newcomer that’s as lyrical-focused, no-frills and, well, good as promising Portland up-and-comer Mic Capes can feel like a breath of fresh air.
On his freshly released debut mixtape Rise & Grind, the twenty-four-year-old Capes positions himself as a Northwest mic master to watch, putting his sharp, occasionally conscious rap-dipped pen game to fine use as he relates his own struggles of trying to turn rap dreams into reality alongside gritty urban vignettes that deal with the relentless gloom of inner-city trials and tribulations and recession-era frustrations, sobering themes that loudly resonate with their timeliness.
Couple those strains with a blatant lack of ratchetness or crossover commercial ambition, and a production landscape that mostly toils in a low-key soulful, crate-dug palette, and the gimmick-free straightforwardness of R&G almost feels like a hip hop piece from another time, giving a bone to heads craving for a bit more rootsiness (and hope for the future) in their 2012 rap.
Standout cuts emerge with “Concrete Dreams”, a pensive, wine-soaked confessional tracking Mic’s reinvigorated hunger after having to “clear [his] mind and take a step back” that lands as a solid introduction-to-Capes entry, and the striking story opus “Caught Slippin’”, where a throwback-hued jazz sound bed provides a wispy, cinematic scope to two narratives that leave people “willing to do whatever for the cheddar” caught in tragic situations by verses’ end.
Hear both highlights below, or simply pick up the entirety of Rise & Grind (which works far better as a front-to-back listening experience) over at Datpiff.
[...] Yes man, that was also a strategic choice to end it with “#TheResistance” track. Even more strategic to let Glenn Waco (North Portland) be the last voice heard on the tape. The reason for that is he will be the next one to drop a project, somewhat of a relay team strategy. It will be called NorthBound, so look out for that, he is a fucking problem yo!!! He doesn’t have an exact release date yet but look out for it early next year. After that will be my boy Rasheed Jamal who is easily one of the dopest artist I’ve ever encountered and worked with hands down! He represents Hot Springs, Arkansas and will remind you a little bit of a mix between Andre 3000, T.I., and Rakim – but certainly has his own identity. I don’t know the exact title of his project(s) or release dates yet but trust me, it won’t matter. As far as a team effort from The Resistance we are planning on dropping an EP in either late spring or early summer of 2013, but songs will drop be dropping periodically. As far as another solo project from me, I’m hoping to drop an EP around mid spring if things pan out how I hope they will, but for the moment it’s all about Rise Grind and promoting it every way possible! [...]