Rapsody is the name to watch in 9th Wonder's camp right now. On November 15 the North Carolina MC dropped For Everything through Jamla, her second mixtape this year after Thank H.E.R. Now in June. Fourteen tracks, executive produced by 9th Wonder and Rapsody herself.
9th Wonder and The Soul Council
9th Wonder handles six beats himself, including the opener "Pace Myself", "A Crush Groove" and the closer "Dear Friends". The rest comes from his production team The Soul Council: Khrysis, who also mixed the tape, plus Amp and Eric G. The sound stays warm and soulful throughout. On "The Woman's Work" 9th flips Maxwell's version of "This Woman's Work", and "Jamla Girls and Jamla Boys" is built on Aaliyah's "Rock the Boat".
The Features
The biggest name on the guest list is Kendrick Lamar, who joins Rapsody on "Rock the Bells" over a Khrysis beat. After Section.80 this summer, Kendrick is everywhere, and the two sound like they were made for the same record. Freeway brings his Philly energy to "A Cold Winter", GQ shows up on "Ain't Worthy", and Bluu Suede on "Live It Up".
Tracklist
- Pace Myself (prod. 9th Wonder)
- The Autobiography of M. Evans (prod. 9th Wonder)
- A Crush Groove (prod. 9th Wonder)
- The Woman's Work (prod. 9th Wonder)
- For Everything (prod. Khrysis)
- Ain't Worthy feat. GQ (prod. Amp)
- 4:20 PM (prod. Khrysis)
- Jamla Girls and Jamla Boys (prod. 9th Wonder)
- ABC/Guilty (prod. Eric G.)
- A Cold Winter feat. Freeway (prod. Amp)
- All Black Everything (prod. Eric G.)
- Live It Up feat. Bluu Suede (prod. Khrysis)
- Rock the Bells feat. Kendrick Lamar (prod. Khrysis)
- Dear Friends (prod. 9th Wonder)
My Take
Rapsody raps with a lot of control and a lot of heart, and 9th Wonder clearly knows how to frame her. "The Autobiography of M. Evans" tells you who she is, "Rock the Bells" shows she can stand next to the hottest new MC on the West Coast. With two strong tapes in one year, I am curious what her first real album will sound like.
Listen to the full tape on Rapsody's Bandcamp.
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