A timid groove. An echoing vocal’s lingering presence over a refined however dingy bassline. A beat that simply received’t again down. The primary fifteen seconds of “Within the Vault,” the brand new single from Slick Naim, are shards of glass which have been pieced again collectively in an try to see contained in the soul of a rapper and his craft. They’re easy however unkempt, and although they lack a poppy luster, they’re maybe extra genuine within the matted look they’re that includes right here.

Naim’s vocal is sewn into the background melodies with surgical precision, however there’s by no means a second the place we’re unable to inform who and what’s chargeable for the grandeur flooding out of the stereo on this observe.   The rapping is assertive, flirts with a melodic singing type that crosses over into trap-flavored territory each infrequently, and is continually occupying heart stage. The music has an OG-style swing to it, however I don’t get an old-school reproduction vibe from this observe; sarcastically, I feel that the construction of this primary half of the track is extra of an homage to the unfinished concepts of 90’s hip-hop that by no means got here to fruition. He’s taking the assured crush of the bass and affixing it with a lyrical luminosity that may be very trendy and classy, however there’s nothing recycled within the development of “Within the Vault.” Naim strikes me as a person who follows his instinct, and due to this fact borrowing from any of his friends or predecessors could be, in essence, a waste of his time and abilities.

As a result of this isn’t the primary entry in his discography, there’s lots for us to check Slick Naim’s “Within the Vault” outdoors of apart from mainstream pop, rap, and R&B, all three of which fail at even making an attempt to carry as a lot aesthetical water as this single does. There isn’t a one approach to break this composition down due to its multilayered design, and regardless of the normal nature of the beat, the percussive aspect right here might be one of many extra complicated that I’ve studied this July. I can’t inform whether or not he’s an experimentalist or simply one other various rapper with a singular setup and method to writing a balladic hip-hop observe, however in both case, he’s received the chops to stay round lengthy sufficient to point out me an EP primarily based on this conceptualism.  

“Within the Vault” comes via the end line with as a lot gusto because it begins with, and although it feels progressively stylized and even a bit operatic at instances, the one totals as much as solely 2:41 in complete working time. It’s a testomony to how partaking a songwriter Slick Naim is, and whereas I’ve by no means been the most important fan of indie hip-hop, this can be a track that is just too good to be missed (even by the music journalists of a discriminating style). He’s proven us what he can do with a candy energy ballad, and if he can do the identical with a free, freewheeling jam, he’ll be the form of dual-threat composer that this style wants now greater than ever earlier than.

Mindy McCall