At first, Johnny Cinco was a beneficiary of the highly effective Atlanta rap machine, then he received misplaced inside it. Round 2013, he recorded a considerably typical early 2010s ATL flip up joint, “They Gave the Mistaken Younger Nigga Cash,” that lit up town’s famed strip membership Magic Metropolis, scoring him a document take care of the unique iteration of Kevin “Coach Ok” Lee and Pierre “P” Thomas’ Atlanta-based imprint, High quality Management. Led by Migos, the label shortly turned a hub for warm Atlanta upstarts, however the monetary disappointment of the trio’s debut album in 2015 compelled Coach Ok and P again to the drafting board. Finally they determined to trim down the roster, and a kind of cuts was Johnny Cinco, who has been working within the unbiased shadows of Atlanta ever since.
This would possibly sound just like the story of a rapper screwed by the business, however I don’t completely imagine that’s the case. Johnny Cinco’s music at the moment was nice however unremarkable–he merely laid a barely narcotized melodic supply over the stylish sound of the second. Within the final couple of years, although, starting along with his 2020 mixtape Hood Drake, his sound has bloomed behind moody vocals which have turn out to be extra melodic and ATL lure manufacturing that includes lush R&B brushstrokes.
His newest tape Pop It Don’t Cease It is a strong entry level to his revamped type. Centered round a cool vibe, it takes the type of a hazy blur of sing-raps. A steady stream of light-weight lyrics mirror this laid again temper. “Lotta losses hell it include it/Lotta sacrifices made me who I’m, ain’t nothin’ to this,” raps Cinco like he’s mid-shrug on the opening line of “Don’t Suppose We Mendacity.” It’s way of life rap that’s not drawback free; he will get stressed, and typically issues don’t go as deliberate. On “No Extra Speaking” he’s dwelling massive, however sounds bored of it. Over a Roy Ayers pattern drowned out by the rattling hi-hats on the title monitor, he offers obscure traces completely different shades of emotion with tiny melodic tweaks.
As a result of the mixtape’s sound and themes are so repetitive, it sometimes feels slight. On “By no means Common,” his vocals slip right into a boring robotic register, and on “Baffled,” his weak lyrics don’t maintain a extra stripped down method. However since all of the songs are so brief and breezy, the lackluster ones fly by innocuously.
This consistency in sound and themes are additionally what offers the tape its environment; Cinco’s mantra appears to be I’ve been via some shit and I’m nonetheless right here chilling. The music that finest represents that’s “Rags to Riches,” a piano-driven joint with sputtering drums, the place each line feels delivered with a sigh of aid: “I’ve been ballin’ method too lengthy, this shit right here don’t make no sense.” He appears like a daily dude. Almost a decade in, Johnny Cinco has discovered his area of interest in lowkey, grounded way of life raps.
