Lots of hip-hop newcomers build masses of anticipation surrounding their debut mixtapes. Nick Grant, however, left very little time for hype and anticipation. He surfaced in October last year with a killer freestyle on Sway’s radio show; he then dropped three dope tracks just last week, and today he has released his debut mixtape. Titled ‘88, Grant indicates that his mixtape has been 26 years in the making and his whole life has led to this moment – and he nailed it.
‘88 is a 13 track mixtape that has a old school vibe to it. His storytelling ability and lyrical dexterity pay homage to the late ‘90s/early 2000s hip-hop that Grant and most late ‘80s babies, like me, grew up listening to. Grant mentions in more than one track having the spirit of Tupac, and while normally this is a fireable offence in my book, I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt and hope that he means he’s a product of Pac’s era – but with an obvious Drake influence (could be his voice).
Grant recruited a few kings of the game: Killer Mike, Big K.R.I.T., Young Dro, BJ The Chicago Kid, Stacy Barthe and others for this mixtape and manages to hold his own among them.
Based off Grant’s debut I think we can expect big things in his future. If you’re a fan of ‘Golden Age’ hip-hop and raw lyricism definitely check out Grant’s ‘88.