Key New Heat: Mick Jenkins - "Sunkissed" ft. theMIND (Prod. by Da-P)

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To borrow a quote from Supreme Leader Snoke, "There has been an awakening. Have you felt it?"

That awakening is of my black brothers and sisters no longer idly sitting by as we watch our culture, the nuances of our identity, our creativity and most importantly our people be pimped, appropriated and killed off through the white supremacist power structure. The thing that is to be felt is the metaphorical pressure by some racist white people who are beginning to become bombarded with an uneasy or defensive feeling through the challenge being brought to their privilege and societal power -- e.g. the always salty Tomi Lahren. And not to my surprise, Mick Jenkins bottles up all this climbing frustration and lets it go in his new track Sunkissed ft. theMIND (prod. by Da-P) to rehydrate the masses in the coldest way possible.

Mick Jenkins is no stranger to dropping truths; most would say his forte lies in conceptually heavy projects with social commentary acting as the makeup of his lyrics. And Sunkissed gives that argument more merit. The song makes a statement immediately via the instrumental. Da-P's opening dings and chimes progressions work in tandem like they're peeling back a curtain. Da-P's clip-clop noise sounds like times running down on the fuse of retaliation. And right when the clicks stop, the beat drops. His thumping bass reinforces the restless kicks moments of double and triple strikes so they feel like immediate clap backs. Then Mick Jenkins kicks a light first verse, speaking bars about the truths about to be dropped. His line "Keep it thorough as a New York borough" tells me everything about where this is going. Then Sunkissed's awesomely prideful melanin positive chorus comes in:

             "You love my style/ You love my skin/ That melanin"(4x).

Those words sung by Mick and theMIND are the brightest, most blatant truths I found in the song. But the way it sets up Mick Jenkins' second verse, the pre-hook is wonderful because he exposes every little injustice he sees happening to black people. Technically we know Mick is sound; it's his words that wow me. "Y'all can't just front on us niggas no mo'/Police can't keep pullin' these triggers/Won't go for that sh*t much longer" is a tale as old as time for us. I'm paraphrasing here, but I'm gonna reflect back to what Jesse Williams said so eloquently at the BET Awards last Sunday, that police officers find a way to de-escalate, disarm and subdue white people all the time. We want that same opportunity and the same right to survival during an encounter.

We're getting shot and killed on sight by police officers too frequently when there are other measures that could and should have been taken. The surrounding narrative seems to suggest that we deserve this treatment. Propaganda featuring "thuggish" pictures or "dangerous" tweets get passed around to cement the demonizing of us to make the killings appear justified. It's sickening. And unless you live it, unless you have to consciously police yourself every time you step out the front door just so no one will think you're "up to something"...that's the best way I can slice it. And I'm happy Mick Jenkins sheds light on this through his first two verses. It makes the bridge all the more juicy, all the more real.

Mick Jenkins' bridge is coming straight for the culture vultures, the bigots and the racists. I hope this bridge makes every last one of them the most uncomfortable they've ever been. I love the reference to Beyoncé's Lemonade. I love how he shows how important we are to the world when he drops the line "If we eliminated every black invention motherf***ers wouldn't last a week." I love how with that line he's taking back what is ours in a sense. That line reframes what they've tried to erase from history. That line, as is Sunkissed in its totality, is a history lesson in a timely song. False narratives are slowly chipping away at the notion that black people had a small to nonexistent part in the culture that we created. We saw it happen to Jazz, Blues and Rock & Roll. We're watching it happen to Hip-Hop, encompassing all elements from Rap, DJing, breaking, even reaching towards graffiti. So I say thank you for this song Mick Jenkins, theMIND and Da-P. Y'all are some of the most elite out right now. In my opinion this song is dope as hell, but it's even bigger than the music. Sunkissed is a reminder to some and an anthem to others that it's okay to be black and proud.

Quench your thirst with Sunkissed below.

Lead Photo Cred:  soundcloud.com
                       
              

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