In time for his gig opening for Wiz Khalifa at Summerfest's Harley-Davidson Roadhouse tonight, this week Milwaukee rapper Prophetic has released another web-tape, his third of the year, for free download and streaming. As usual, Proph's confident, melodious flow channels a pre-retirement Jay-Z, but Purgatory shifts his focus further away from street rap and toward Top 40 pop-rap. With its spritzy synths and glossy pop choruses, it's pretty clearly targeted toward the Wiz Khalifa set, or namely the audience that was turned onto him through his widely played Wiz Khalifa riff “Green and Yellow;” he gives tips his hat to his new listeners on the mixtape's intro track. As always, though, Prophetic strikes a balance between crossover flash and conscious-rap substance—as he puts it on “Beautiful Day,” “Shirts is name brand, but they still make statements.”
