M.I’s infamous feature on Pulse’s LooseTalkGiants, though instrumental for the rapper’s recent re-up and the hip-hop culture, left a sour taste in everyone’s mouth. One particular argument that spurred M.I’s decision to come on to the show was ‘shelf life’. Rappers wear their egos like an armour, so it may not be so odd that a man who has sold many albums and cashed big endorsement cheques, chose to have a testosterone-fuelled chat over whiskey with journalists in a not-so-fancy book club manner. But to deny why the idea that a bulk of his discography did not have the critical reverence to be referenced today would hurt the rapper, would be to undercut his brightest moments under the spotlight.

Ten years after the release of M.I’s debut album, Talk About It, it’s hard to explain where the rapper is on ‘Rendezvous’, his new project, without acknowledging  M’s usual knack for superimposing mainstream calisthenics without sacrificing hip-hop’s core elements. You hear this when Odunsi lends a refrain from Lil Kesh’s “Shele Gan Gan” on the chorus for “Popping” , while SDC’s Ghost, adds an American West Coast edge to his verse.

But “Poppin” leaps at your for other reasons. M.I is not entirely interested in making a song about how he is still capable of energising the current urban music revolution, as he is reflecting on new clarity and the irony of fame and cult of personality bubbles. “My G, If Squad Is Fake, Demolish it” , M.I raps in a true masculine ‘dude-bro’ way, from one person who knows the other very well, only here, M.I himself is the mirror.

M has seen both sides of the bend. His verse on the Odunsi-produced beat is an expose on his perception of fame, of fake friends, loyalty and the human nature in its twistedness over time. “Popping”  isn’t another song about the good life and partying, instead, M.I takes a humanised point of view at some of the disappointments of the celebrity life despite its shiny outer gloss.

Listen to “Popping” off M.I’s Rendezvous below.

Featured Image Credits: Instagram/mi_abaga

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Amarachi is Jimmy Hendrix with the shitz. Tweet at her @Echeccentric

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ICYMI: Watch M.I’s video for “Your Father” featuring Dice Ailes here