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Thirteendegrees is the kind of artist who can make Amazon threads look fresh and the simplest bars sound inspired. The first time I saw him live back in April, it quickly became apparent that the Chicago rapper never prioritizes style over substance — he simply has way more style than he knows what to do with. At a glance, he’s just another of Young Thug’s errant grandchildren, but his musical instincts have sharpened with every release, setting him head and shoulders above the competition. His new project BLACK FRIDAYZ builds on the success and sonics of January’s Clique City Vol. 2, sinking deeper into his plush instrumentals and “GHETTO HIPSTER” inspirations — the house and bop music of his hometown, Tumblr models and swag-era lookbooks, Your Stepdad and Chief Keef and Kanye West.
Where his last tape presented a collection of hits, BLACK FRIDAYZ is tightly constructed, stretching 30 minutes into a lush extended suite so listeners can luxuriate in his smooth vocals. And while his subject matter is still decidedly hedonistic, his raps have stepped up a notch, from the manic martial stomp of “SPIKE SNAPBACK” to the starry-eyed introspection of “DRIVE SAFE.” He’s still prone to telling rather than showing (“My life is so glamorous / but I’m still suicidal,” he barks on “FAKE KILLA”), but he’s determined to make you feel every word.
If you only have 3 minutes to get familiar with Thirteendegrees, I’d turn on “ROOFTOPZ.” Frequent collaborator Gyant provides one of his prettiest beats, delicate piano and swooning synths draped like organza over muted drums and a distant cluster of pizzicato strings. Thirteen delivers a perfectly wailed hook before taking underground rap pages to task: “How they say I’m a motherfucking gimmick? When a n***a done got a hit?” And he’s falling in love with groupies (“now my life is fucking toooast”) before kicking them off his couch the morning after. I’d say he seems more focused on watching the numbers in his bank account than the models he’s flirting with, except at one point, he says, “While shawty tryna throw that ass on me, I’m tryna see them toes,” then adlibs, with echo effect, “them toes though!” He knows what he wants!
