Jalen McMillan has covered more ground in less time, commercially and creatively. The Tallahassee, FL rapper returns sounding self-assured, wrapping his sharp flow in lush yet punchy beats. Those paying close attention know the artist’s potential.
His latest EP, Triple Threat, is a lesson in musical diversity. Within these songs, Jalen McMillan seems not just self-assured but gratified. His lead single “Azz Back” flexes as an anthem that channels the blistering freestyle burning within him. The beat is all in your face without being obtrusive or compromising as the rapper’s carefully timed show-offs and put-downs, are all performed with a sneer or a scoff.
Tightly cut into scenes of unraveling love yearnings, “Call My Name” is a more ambitious storytelling exercise; it is also more discerning about segueing from combative bars to more sumptuous R&B tunes.
Jalen McMillan goes rapid-fire on “Nykee” with fellow collaborator Bachi. There isn’t much flow in the sequencing, but they deliver with consistency. They both go in and out with an unwitting finesse. This becomes their default setting, and feed off each others aggression to relentlessly taunt and challenge their best bars.
On “Keep It 1000”, it’s a bit permissive by comparison, but it also feels like an evolution in Jalen McMillan’s song craft. The writing is tighter, the verses tauter, the hook snappier. On this song the rapper works toward finding a middle ground to connect these disparate elements of his sound. “Keep It 1000” is a track that perfectly fuses Jalen McMillan’s natural sing-songy tendencies with his silver-spitting rap technique.
Edited down to four songs under fifteen minutes, the Triple Threat EP is a distillation of Jalen McMillan’s abilities and a first-rate exhibition of his skill set. The EP’s lush yet punchy soundbeds is aided by mainstay producers like Fly Melodies, Othello Beats, and WeDreaming Beats, along with Jalen McMillan himself co-producing on the tracks to come up with a highly creative project.
It seems likely Jalen McMillan will scale rap’s greatest heights, and it’s in these moments, with his impressive Triple Threat EP, that he proves success doesn’t look the same on everyone.