With No Rest For The Wicked, AZ Chike Wants A Classic Album. Does He Get It?

For as long as it’s existed, prestige rap has been the most deceptive trapdoor in hip-hop. Rappers old enough to remember “Slow Jamz” and “Jesus Walks” decide they need a party anthem and a conscious rap song. People who thought good kid, m.A.A.d city was the best album of the 2010s suddenly realize that they can’t have a classic album without voicemail recordings from their aunty or a song where they’re “more vulnerable than ever.” If the church choir on his new album-opening song “Mercy” weren’t enough of an indication, a recent interview with Billboard makes it more than a little clear that AZ Chike was trying to make one of those albums.