[Reaper16]

19. Mr. Mother****in eXquire – Kismet



Mr. Mother****in eXquire has come a long way from his 2010 mixtape, Lost in Translation, which I adored. That was mostly party tracks or sort of depressed musings, spit over recycled Necro and El-P beats. Lyrically, he’s more confident in his abilities. Lyrically, he can do whatever he wants. He gets caught up in relationship troubles still. But there’s a maturity here, and an almost bleak acceptance that maybe is or isn’t maturity, that feels new and rare in hip-hop. This is a conscious rap album for people going through breakups. “Cherry Raindrops” and “Vanilla Rainbows” tread romantic ground in a mature, non-skeevy way that Drake could never do. “The Cauldron” and “Noble Drew Ali,” meanwhile, show off what eXquire can do as an emcee when he wants to straight kill a beat. The album’s focus dips on the second half –a common problem with rap albums for whatever reason – but this is well worth your time. I’ll ride for eXquire, whatever he puts out.