When I was asked to put together a monthly feature about local and national hip-hop and R&B, I felt unsure. One of the downsides of being a writer living in todays future is that youre never not into something. Yes, I called it a downside, but Im old: I remember life before the internet, when a single album would seize my mental for months. Right now, sated is the new neutral state. These are times of musical abundance and were always full, the daily harvest of SoundCloud and Bandcamp links is bountiful. While Im still totally clueless as to how much money the new, wide open musical marketplace provides or how new players can accrue longevity its undoubtedly a really fucking great time for anyone everywhere who wants to make, or listen to, music. But, to continue with the farming metaphors (all apologies to rural Canadians): it can be difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff.
When was the last time you heard something by a new artist and it set off an internal "yooooooooooooooooooo" lasting longer than, like, three listens?How do you know when you really like something? That a piece of music connects with you personally and activates a curiosity thats independent of any social media flailing? Im not arguing that offline discovery and appreciation is better, or that voracity signals cluelessness taste is subjective and almost always appalling, and it only occasionally strikes a cultural fault line to create a shift.
Really, Im just asking because I want to know. When was the last time you heard something by a new artist and it set off an internal "yooooooooooooooooooo" lasting longer than, like, three listens? What makes you physically hype, and not just iMessage/Twitter hype? The only thing I can trust these days, when my brain is so hopped up on the internet, is the body: my neck must twist, my arms must flail, my eyes should squeeze shut and, if the beat works, my hips must dip.
So it was super fortuitous that I was asked to write this whilst I was getting my damn life listening to Night.Rhetoric, the new mixtape/EP from Toronto rapper Progress. Of course, its very difficult not to move while listening to Kaytrandas swirling Club Bang instrumental or the virile bass line on Flying Lotus production for Lately by Hodgy Beats. For Night.Rhetoric Progress jacked a bunch of beats and soundbites from the online abyss, refurbishing six diabolical, heady and fascinating instrumentals by a bunch of producers including the aforementioned, plus L.A.s Dibia$e and Glasgows Mungo.
Engineer Keita Juma finesses and coheres all the outsized sound. But this isnt just the kind of tossed off, piecemeal sonic flexing endemic to the mixtape subgenre. Instead, Progress has created something neoteric, transforming pre-existing sounds into whole new songs that sound like they were made for him. This is why people qualify and discredit rappers on their beat selection, people.
Night.Rhetorics strength doesnt solely lie in the work of a bunch of other people; its the way Progress keeps pace, matching the energy of these beats, bar for bar. Hes a tactile, snarling vocalist and a thoughtful writer, who can dismantle political rhetoric as well as spit swarthy game. Im very much drawn to his voice, which is raspy and terrifying one minute, and waxy and elegant the next. Night.Rhetoric is dramatic and smart, and florid even in its calmer moments.
My current favourite track is Fara Moans, which repurposes the furry, stippled bass and rosy ecstasy of Flying Lotus into a steamy love song reminiscent of LL Cool Js lip-biting tale of pursuit, Hey Lover. Its the chill centerpiece to a set that engages a variety of ideas, from getting buck (Hedonism 2) to the futility of the daily grind (Six Flags). I told you Jesus was a black skin dreadlock, growls Progress on Moon Shine, and later, fuck a bank and put your ends in the mattress. Dismissing this music as political would defuse it. Much of Progress insight and, uh, "rhetoric" distills the vapours of a million daily microaggressions its more blowing off steam, than anything.
You might have heard of Progress elsewhere. Hes a member of Freedom Writers, the six-man A-team of Toronto rap heavyweights (including producer Big Sproxx, and rappers Adam Bomb, Tona, Frankie Payne and Theo3), whose last album, NOW, was long-listed for the Polaris Prize. Night.Rhetoric, released as a teaser in mid-August before the actual mixtape launch two weeks ago, is largely unrelated to the FW sound and Progress prior solo work (like "Rock Shit," streaming right), but linking these projects is Progress keen synthesis of his life and the world at large. With Night.Rhetoric, hes taken that vision widescreen. Its the first thing Ive heard in so long that captures this citys wild and dynamic side, instead of opting for drug-addled noir.
If youre in Toronto, check him out at SIXTY MINUTES, a monthly live art installation and performance, on October 7 at Studio Bar.
THE CATCH UP: Progress’ Night.Rhetoric mixtape and fixation in the digital age by Anupa Mistry | Chart Attack.
