Mick Jenkins

Born in 1991 in Huntsville, Alabama, and raised early on in Chicago’s South Side, Mick Jenkins emerged in the early 2010s at the intersection of rap and spoken-word poetry, performing on local open-mic stages. The mixtape Trees & Truths (2013), and especially The Water[s] (2014), established him within an introspective hip‑hop rooted in social and spiritual reflection, over productions often tinged with jazz, soul and atmospheric textures. The EP Wave[s] (2015) and the album The Healing Component (2016) continued this metaphor-driven writing, the recurring motif of water, and a low, crisply articulated vocal delivery. Surrounded by a generation of independent Chicago rappers, Jenkins subsequently expanded his collaborations—working with artists such as Noname, BADBADNOTGOOD and Kaytranada—while consolidating his discography with Pieces of a Man (2018), the EP The Circus (2020), Elephant in the Room (2021) and The Patience (2023). His work is marked by a sustained attention to imagery, the contrasts between spoken and rapped sections, and a musicality that gives ample space to slow atmospheres and melodic arrangements.