Never heard of Bel-Air; he's on the radar now. The Southside Chicago rapper, a member of the NuWorld collective, has enlisted Mick Jenkins on his smooth-riding new single, "Drive Slow." There's a stylistic kinship between the two emcees -- Bel-Air is capable of knockout punchlines, though he, like Jenkins, seems to prefer to use his talents to relay nuanced depictions of what's going on in his hometown streets and how the Chicago climate affects his state of mind.
Bel-Air's rhymes are full of pain-driven energy, though he delivers his thoughts so naturally that his verses go down smoothly. Still, there's a lot going on here, so you'd be smart to "Drive Slow" when listening. As usual, Jenkins aces his feature. The classic Chi-Town production comes from Donato.
Quotable Lyrics
I drive slow like Pablo
Got so many with me, I could walk through with my eyes closed
And still not get touched
See money talks, y'all don't really get discussed
- Bel-Air
