Nardo Wick is a young drill-rap artist that gained fame from a viral Lyrical Lemonade song called "Who Want Smoke?" I have mixed feelings about this release. He has wonderful punchlines and a lot of creative rap ideas so this drill music is more creative and artistic than any other songs about hitting licks. That makes it feel like a missed opportunity to be more than drill music. I just don't see violent audiences appreciating or connecting with his creative ideas much. Also Lyrical Lemonade is so suburban that it's weird how alienating he is to his potential suburban Lyrical Lemonade gathered audience. I also have a hard time believing he's really living the life he's talking about at his age, with his clean cut look, and suburban school intelligence.
On the other hand, when Childish Gambino caved into close-minded audience defeat and made "This is America", the resort to mirroring mainstream culture was a gateway to equality and sameness. Maybe Nardo's actionable solution is the mentality hip hop needs. However, I can tell by the complexity of his bars that he could do something a lot deeper than convincing the hood to thug.
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