Genre classification: Rap, Hip-hop, Acid Jazz, Poetry.

Record Label: Cinematic Music Group

Mixtapes: The Mickstape (2012)

                      The Pursuit of Happiness: The Story of Mickalascage (2012)

                      Trees and Truth (2013)

Studio Albums: The Waters[s] (2014)

                                  Wave[s] (2015)

                                 The Healing Component (2016)

The Chicago rapper, Mick Jenkins, has built his name through his use of expressive language and imagery, as well as his socially conscious outlook on critical issues. Starting his career in 2010, the artist began participating in several different underground poetry groups, which influenced the release of his first mixtape, The Mickstape, in 2012. He then got involved with the hip-hop crew Free Nation, which ultimately contributed to his jump on releasing his second online mixtape The Pursuit of Happiness: The Story of Mickalascage in later 2012. In 2013, Jenkins came out with a 17-track mixtape, which may as well have been it’s own studio album, titled Trees and Truth. This particular mixtape had all the abilities of raising his profile in the rap community, while also honoring his individual growth as a lyricist and producer.

Taking after his first two studio albums, The Waters[s] and Wave[s], Jenkins has officially come out with a ballad that accurately depicts his style to a T. This 15 track release, The Healing Component, is a concept album surrounding love, drawing fresh angles on how we identify by this word that is rarely spoken of in the rap world. With help from talented features such as BADBADNOTGOOD, theMIND, Noname, Xavier Omar and more, Jenkins proactively expresses his visions of what the ‘healing component’ truly represents.

Mick Jenkins is unlike any other rapper. He doesn’t play into heavy influences of radio jams or pop back beats. He simply has the motivation to make his music more than what can be expected from the evolving community of rap and hip-hop. So let’s kick back, light up, and go on the musical journey that is Mick Jenkins.