{"id":15751,"date":"2021-02-23T12:56:37","date_gmt":"2021-02-23T17:56:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/?p=15751"},"modified":"2021-02-23T12:56:37","modified_gmt":"2021-02-23T17:56:37","slug":"milelong-mixtapes-ep-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/2021\/02\/23\/milelong-mixtapes-ep-4\/","title":{"rendered":"“Milelong Mixtapes”: Ep. #4"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cMile-Long Mixtapes\u201d: Ep. #4<\/span><\/p>\n

Happy Birthday CHIKA\u2019s \u201cIndustry Games\u201d & Also\u2026 the Pandemic?\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

by Kellie M. Beck<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Friday after the University shut down classes for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, recently acclaimed rapper CHIKA released her debut album. My roommate and I listen to this album relentlessly– no one skips CHIKA in my house.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Her <\/span>Industry Games <\/span><\/i>EP is a pure, ultra-concentrated dose of her finest work yet. \u201cIntro\u201d, the minute-long prologue to the piece, introduces soaring piano and string sections, and tells listeners \u201cI hope this music makes you think,\u201d only after a tight and dense verse with near-Grecian level drama. But the sentimentality is quickly tossed aside for the EP\u2019s titular track to take center stage.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

CHIKA reveals to her audience over the course of the EP her struggle with her recent flux of fame. In \u201cIndustry Games\u201d, CHIKA identifies herself as the literal \u201cantithesis\u201d of the rap industry, claiming that other top rappers aren\u2019t invested in their work the way she is.The song segways neatly into \u201cSongs About You\u201d, a four-minute legacy track– arguably her finest song on the EP. \u201cSongs About You\u201d turns to criticizing haters, and both says <\/span>and shows <\/span><\/i>that CHIKA is hitting her prime, and on the way to becoming a household name. Even though CHIKA does her fair share of bragging about her (rather evident) skills, an underlying current of dissatisfaction runs through her lyrics– it begs the question, \u201cif I\u2019m already miles ahead of everyone else, what\u2019s next?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Over an angelic chorus of her backup singers singing \u201ctalk\u201d, CHIKA rips the Band-Aid off in her track, \u201cBalencies\u201d. What\u2019s the point of all this success, if the money and fame don\u2019t bring me anything other than more problems? A church organ drops at the end of the second verse, the overwhelming pressure of the audio weighing down on the listener, only for it to drop into the sugary sweet intro of \u201cDesigner\u201d. What\u2019s the point of all this success, if she has to enjoy it alone? \u201cOn My Own\u201d attempts to address the balance between love, and a relationship, with her fame with soft, velvety vocals, and her repeated promise: \u201cI\u2019m on my way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s CHIKA\u2019s finale track, \u201cCrown\u201d, that contextualizes the album for me. CHIKA opens her story up to her audience, and asks them to connect with her story and her strife– \u201cchasing the impossible takes some courage\u201d, she tells listeners. Gospel vocals and rich layers of harmonizing vocals sing in pure joy– CHIKA chooses to celebrate strife as something that defines us. To survive, is to thrive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The pandemic is almost a year old. But on the horizon, is a promise of its end, while the sun begins to shine and the earth begins to thaw in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Listening to CHIKA\u2019s <\/span>Industry Games, <\/span><\/i>I think we might owe ourselves a celebration of epic proportions someday soon.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cMile-Long Mixtapes\u201d: Ep. #4 Happy Birthday CHIKA\u2019s \u201cIndustry Games\u201d & Also\u2026 the Pandemic?\u00a0 by Kellie M. Beck   The Friday after the University shut down classes for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, recently acclaimed rapper CHIKA released her debut album. My roommate and I listen to this album relentlessly– no one skips CHIKA […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2232,"featured_media":15752,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1676,1589,192,16],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15751"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2232"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15751"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15754,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15751\/revisions\/15754"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}