The Trophy Ain’t Big Enough
Mick Jenkins Continues to Stake His Claim in the Rap Game with “A Murder of Crows.”
(Photo from @mickjenkins on Instagram)
“When you spittin movin pictures they can’t stop motion,” is how 34 year old, Chicago-raised rapper Mick Jenkins opens “On VHS” the seventh track on his most-recently released album “A Murder of Crows.” This bar perfectly encapsulates how Jenkins’ music has always been about creating scenes and stories for listeners.
Originally released on September 19th on Even, a platform created to buy art directly from artists, Jenkins’ newest release, a collaborative album with producer EMIL, was released on all digital streaming platforms on October 3rd.
Since his first release in 2012, “the mickstape,” Jenkins has been filling his songs with dense, culturally relevant bars and mind bending wordplay.
“A big part of where my artistry rests is writing.”
Jenkins explained in an interview with writer and content creator Eric Wells II also known as EricTheYoungGawd. “Yes we’re making music, yes we’re rapping but the most important thing to me is writing,” he continued. The importance of writing to Jenkins is no surprise to anyone who has listened to his music throughout his career, and that still remains true in this latest project.
In that same interview, Jenkins explains that the title of the project is a metaphor for the current state of the rap game. Just like crows gather around a space where death or a natural disaster occurred, Jenkins noticed rappers who he feels respect the genre, including himself, come back into the public eye with a newfound confidence in the aftermath of Kendrick Lamar’s clear victory over Drake in their very public back and forth in 2024. Rapsody, Freddie Gibbs, and Earl sweatshirt were some of the names he mentioned.
With this in mind, it’s no surprise that Jenkins approached the project focused on showcasing his talent as a rapper.
In the second to last song on the project titled “Coco Gauff,” Jenkins makes reference to 21-title-winning tennis player, Coco Gauff, with the hook of the track alluding to a post Gauff made about her French Open championship trophy not being as big as she thought it would be. “The trophy ain’t big enough” he says in reference to that moment but also to the fact that he feels like he doesn’t get enough respect in the rap game.
On that same track, Jenkins includes bars like “Heard they want smoke, get hazed if I’m steppin” which references Nardo Wick’s 2021 hit “Who Want Smoke.” The track included stepping on competition as a prominent theme of the song, smoke which makes the atmosphere hazy, and a reference to HBCU greek organizations who commonly perform step routines but also have a history of hazing new recruits.
Triple entendres in a singular bar like this are common in Jenkins’ work and show up many times throughout the album.
Bars aren't the only appeal of the album though. EMIL brings smooth, jazzy beats to the project. The laidback instrumentation provides a perfect canvas for Jenkins to convey whatever emotion he wants to whether he approaches a track with more energy, or with a more somber tone and inflection.
Other standout songs like the opening track “Dream Catchers,” “Words I should’ve said” featuring UK rapper Enny, and the closing track “Bigger Than Ever” featuring South Florida singer Kaylan Arnold, solidify this project as a great body of work from Mick Jenkins and EMIL, who we hope will continue creating together as they progress in their careers.
