6LACK: 6pc Hot EP
With a city that is dominated by aggressive, assertive, and energizing trap music, the legacy that once was set by the great Usher Raymond has reached a new level appreciation in the dirty south. Atlanta’s nocturnal knight is back once again with a refreshing angle on R&B. 6LACK has returned with a six track EP titled 6pc Hot, an homage to his favorite neighborhood wing spot in his native land of Zone 6 Atlanta.
6pc Hot is a smooth, intoxicating, and polished project that seemed abrupt upon release. In an interview with Vulture’s Trey Alston, 6LACK elaborates his inspiration behind the composition of 6pc Hot. The Zone 6 balladist explains that the project stems from a mixture of both past and present. 6LACK’s admiration for his hometown and past memories is well exemplified in songs like ATL Freestyle and “Elephant in the Room”. While other tracks play as reactionary inclinations towards society issues today.
“'ATL Freestyle’ pays homage to where I’m from and reminds me of how I grew up and where I am now. ‘Outside’ talks about being locked in quarantine and wanting to go back out while furthering a relationship. But I feel like every song covered a small piece of what I was going through… It’s a reaction more than anything. And I think that songs like that fall into place, as far as what they need to be, as time goes on."
6LACK’s EP comes in nearly 2 years following the release of his last solo LP. 6pc Hot came rather abrupt ever since he went to twitter to post rather cryptic tweet foreshadowing the project back in the middle of May. Although instantaneous following the viral tweet leaving LVRN fans at a stand still, 6pc Hot does not appear to be rushed, incomplete, or scrappy by any stretch of the imagination. With his personal hot sauce (sharing the same title as the EP) set for sale on the LVRN website as merchandise, the project is well composed and executed given the short notice on social media.
As the title suggests, 6pc Hot is a quality-over-quantity record that plays towards 6LACK’s emotional, stylistic, and personal methods of expression within the scope of R&B. Once a battle rapper before his commercial success, 6LACK uses this EP to evoke his personal emotions and memories as a youth without sacrificing the enigmatic nature of his image.
Positives
As an artist who started as an independent looking to find traction on soundcloud, 6LACK has seemingly mastered the art of execution. Prior to the release of his latest EP, 6LACK was getting quite busy with a myriad of artists from hip-hop, other R&B contemporaries, to even pop groups all throughout the industry. 6LACK’s angelic and hurt voice, combined with his poignant lyrics makes his talent not only highly utilized, but generational all together. His ability to express an array of emotion ranging from aggression to meekness without being outside his comfort zone is a feat many artists attempt to master their entire career. 6LACK has seemingly perfected this aspect of his craft to a tee.
6pc Hot provides a variety of formats and tempos that we have seen from 6LACK before, but executed to a new standard. “ATL Freestyle” provides a tone-setting atmosphere of sophisticated lyrical interpretation, while offering a sticky instrumental that transport the listener to the backseat of a hooptie driving around Atlanta.
Tracks like “Long Night” and “Elephant in the Room” transmit a feeling of relationship reflection, as 6LACK addresses common issues between desires and needs. On the other hand, tracks like “Know My Rights” and “Float” serve as opinions towards the recent protests of racial discrimination and Atlanta trap amidst the heat of the Black Lives Matter protests.
The project ends with the heavily sentimental “Outside”, a ballad expressing his need to share a new world with a significant other while being isolated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The track displays 6LACK’s perspective on self-loathing while remaining optimistic despite the lack of action taking place in his life. The minimalist production carried by a piano takes listeners into a state of lachrymose. A heartbreaking yet prepossessing ending to a short but sweet project.
Negatives
As an artist who began his career amidst the R&B trend of depressing, melancholy filled lyrics combined with gloomy sonic production, 6LACK was widely bracketed among vocalists attempting to emulate artists like Drake, The Weeknd, and PartyNextDoor. With projects like Free 6LACK and East Atlanta Love Letter as his first mainstream commercial releases, the narrative continued as his style held many parallels with the aforementioned influences.
The same can be some what be said about his latest project. Although 6pc Hot provides a number of diverse tracks throughout a small sample size, we have all heard a rendition of these topics before. Despite the stellar execution spotlighting his diverse arsenal of polished skills, 6LACK is playing this project quite safe given the similar sounds and production he is sticking to.
Overall
It very refreshing to have an artist provide a nocturnal music the way 6LACK does. The way he manipulates instrumentals with his somber voice makes for a sound that is very hard to emulate, let alone duplicate and make your own. Releasing a small sample sized project not only gives fans a long needed taste of what an artist has been working on creatively, it also keeps listeners on their toes for the LP hopefully in the horizon. 6pc Hot definitely offered not only a solid project for fans to listen to over the long summer, but also an idea of what is next for the music coming out of East Atlanta. 6LACK has not only mastered this niche of R&B, he has being a wizard in the genre entirely.