Last fall I received an earful from Wave Chapelle’s manager after I posted a lukewarm write-up of his Only The Beginning mixtape. And then a few more earfuls after that. The gist of the manager’s complaints was that by criticizing Chapelle I was embodying Milwaukee’s crabs in a bucket mentality, the city's perceived tendency to pull down any artist on the rise. And I understand where he’s coming from: That’s an anxiety a lot of Milwaukee artists have, especially ones in its competitive rap scene, and it’s one that Chapelle addresses periodically in his own music. I promise I wasn’t being as malicious as all that, though. I don’t have any grudge against Chapelle. He’s a versatile rapper with an appealing voice, but, like many aspiring rappers, he’s too quick to jump on any and every sound in order to see what sticks. Only The Beginning played like a talent reel, showing how many different hats Chapelle could wear, but never giving a sense of which style he preferred.
Thankfully, focus isn’t a problem on Chapelle’s latest release, a four-song EP called New Black History. It’s as tight as his last release was scattered, forgoing dalliances with R&B and trap to concentrate instead on vibrant, Midwestern soul. Of all the many styles Chapelle has tried, this is the one that suits him best—he sounds like a natural rapping over the lush strings of the title track, or skipping breaths so he can squeeze a couple extra bars into his heated “Streets on Fire” verses. These are some of his strongest tracks yet.
You can stream the New Black History EP below.
