Smino's been building anticipation for his forthcoming album, Luv 4 Rent, for a bit now. He kicked off the album cycle with the single "90 Proof," which featured J. Cole and lived up to hype swirling around it. Just a couple days ago, he shared the cover art for the project, which is a photo of him and his friends standing in a garden and inspecting themselves in a mirror.
Smino has built a career out of marching to the beat of his own drummer, and his newest single follows this road-less-travelled mentality. "Matinee" finds Smino at his most multifarious; the St. Louis rapper bounces between flows, pitches, and sounds with ease.
"Matinee" begins with falsetto crooning from Smino over shimmering electric piano and a distant, looped chant. Smino talks of late nights and passionate love: "I been drinkin' all night / And I'm smokin' all right / St. Louis to Shanghai / St. Lucia, can't lose, we loose, we Goose'd up, baby / My baby do it like she tryna pay her rent," he sings.
The song ends with an abrupt tonal shift, with a booming kick and a call and response. It's the type of unpredictability you can predict from Smino. Check out the song below.
Quotable Lyrics
I wanna hone it, I wanna bone, damn
Pray somebody tell her I'm a grown man
I romanced her, I enhanced her
Diamonds dance in the Tesla, "Electric Slide," get it?
