One Degree Of Separation These Days

Mick Jenkins featuring Freddie Gibbs “Show and Tell”

“Show and Tell” is built around a common rap trope – “people are talking shit, but I’m for real and I must show them” – but there’s an added layer on poignancy in the way Mick Jenkins spits out the phrase “ImaHAVEto” in the chorus. He sounds impatient and irritated, so stressed out by the urgency of his need that he regresses a bit and sounds kinda like a petulant kid. I like the way this little bit of childishness contrasts with every other part of the song, which conveys a grim and foreboding atmosphere and an adult pragmatism. And then there’s Freddie Gibbs, who hops on the second half of the song and seems stoic and self-possessed to the point that he doesn’t seem concerned about proving much of anything.

Buy it from Bandcamp.