Check out Mick Jenkins’ new mixtape via NPR Music, see him at Made In America

Mick Jenkins | Photo via artist’s Facebook

“They say I be talking ’bout water too much,” Mick Jenkins declares on the first track of his mixtape Wave[s], streaming now via NPR Music. The imagery holds up throughout as a symbol of growth – water as nourishment, as a vehicle for cleansing and purity – expanding on themes Jenkins explored on his excellent 2014 album The Water[s]. The Chicago-based MC incorporates horn sections and Halle Berry monologues on a mixtape that proves Chance the Rapper is not the only expert hip-hop voice of the windy city. Listen below, and see him at the Made In America festival on labor day weekend. Tickets and more information can be found at the XPN Concert Calendar.