There is a New York renaissance going on at the moment. Rappers are taking the traditional sounds of New York hip hop, and bringing it to 2019, updating it sonically and visually. Marlon Craft is very much a part of this. Craft has been plugging away for a while now, his first release coming in 2013, but he has started gaining more attention in the past couple of years.

When Craft released Gang Shit a couple weeks ago, I was so happy for him to see the reaction it was getting. Support from people like T.I., Killer Mike, Van Lathan and Shaun King has taken the video to over half a million views.. Craft comes across as very genuine, so to see him receiving the attention he deserves means more, because we know he deserves it.

I haven’t been this excited to hear a new album in a good while. Marlon Craft has quickly become a rapper I look out for. His mix of honesty and confidence is very charming. And his voice is extremely New York, evoking the feeling of the subway, grimy alley ways, timbs and champion hoodies.

Craft announced the album with the lead single Shallow, featuring Dizzy Wright. Listeners get a surprise, as halfway through the album version, we get a bonus song, contrasting the previous one. On Shallow, Craft ends his verse with:

Tryna fill wholes with this liquor and clothes

And a bad bitch rubbin’ my arm

Tellin’ me one more and we gonna get gone

Good ’cause I don’t like waitin’ a lot

on this bonus song, he admits he is lonely.

Tell myself I need to bone, truth is I need a home.

Human beings are contradictory by nature, and this album reflects that. On the song Love Hate Interlude, Craft gives us 87 seconds of contradictions he has within himself like “I hate listening when you drag on, I love talking forever though.” He also says he hates cheese but loves pizza (how can you hate cheese?). Craft presents a very human album, warts and all.

Opening track Speakin sees Craft rapping furiously over what sounds like a live band. This year Dave released Psychodrama, an incredibly personal album, and the opening track Psycho, contains a huge switch in tone where Dave says:

Brother I’m a careful, humble, reckless, arrogant, extravagant

N**** probably battlin’ with manic depression

Man, I think I’m going mad again

It’s like I’m happy for a second then I’m sad again

And on this opening track we get a similar openness from Craft, where he spits:

I been runnin’ circles around rappers don’t make me relapse son

My anxiety was so bad son, I was gonna collapse, son

Nights that I thought I’d seen my last sun

I just wanted to be somebody that could last son

This honesty and openness is what endears people to artists like Craft. One of my favourite Marlon Craft songs is Ain’t With Today, it is actually the perfect soundtrack to those days were life is getting you down. And again Craft exhibits an honesty that is rare:

What you know ’bout bein’ sad? What you know ’bout bein’ anxious?

What you know ’bout shittin’ bricks every time you had to face it?

What you know bout crying in the bathroom scared you’ll never make it?

What you know ’bout gettin’ past it? What you know ’bout elevating?

What you know ’bout feeling like a fucking legend in the making?

I digress, because we are talking about Funhouse Mirror (I just really think everyone should listen to Ain’t With Today.) This album sounds like a traditional New York album but updated. Craft is able to meld jazz instruments with hard hitting drums to get his message out. We get plenty of introspection on the album, on tracks like Show Up, Craft asks what if he doesn’t make it, with the chorus showing an apathy (if I fuck it up, fuck it), but the second verse reveals, through a conversation with Craft’s mum, that he has anxieties about doing his best but not lasting, or becoming too nervous to act. His mum ends the verse by telling Craft to “man the fuck up and go write your song.”

This theme of family is persistent throughout the album, but on the aptly named Family Craft really hits the message home. A love letter to his family, Craft dedicates a verse each to his father, mother and sister. On verse 1, he shares how his father, a jazz musician, gave up his dream of music, presumably to provide for the family. This message reminds me of Asher Roth’s His Dream off Asleep in the Bread Aisle. Craft reassures his dad that even though he might have to give up his own dream, that the influence on Craft’s music means that his dream continues.

The second verse to his mother sees Craft expressing that, while they might not have had the best history, that he will always be her son, reflecting on the fact that his mum was there for him when he was going through anxiety and that her advice and patience helped him beat the fear he had.

The last verse is for his younger sister. Craft admits trying to be a third parent for her, but that he has looked up to her since 2013. This verse and the song as a whole is incredibly touching, and I can admit to almost tearing up when listening to it.

On (not) Everybody, Craft talks about something you realise as you get older, that not everybody grows up. When you are younger, you think everyone around you will develop with you, but as you get older you find that was false. At 26, Craft shows a maturity beyond his years, realising that in order for him to proceed in life, he might have to leave some things behind. This track leads into Dribblin’ one of my favourites off the album. The way the instruments build up as Craft’s voice becomes more powerful. Taking the “ball’s in your court,” metaphor and expanding it, Craft is saying the ball isn’t just in his court, that it has been for a long time, and now he just needs to take his shot, but unfortunately, he is being held back by the anxiety and fears mentioned in Show Up.

On the Statik Selektah produced Right Now, Craft starts on the path to recovery, but maybe not in the best way:

I’m in a better place, but better don’t always mean good homey

The ice whiskey melts until the symptoms melt with it,

But you know I always show up when it’s game time,

Cause you can be up and down at the same time.

Craft is turning to substances in order to get over the anxiety, which while it might be a short term solution, in the long term, healing is needed. On Personal this theme of needing to heal continues as Craft takes ownership of his life.

The last line on the album is “I think I’ve finally broken the mirror.” Funhouse Mirrors project a distorted image of a person. On this album, Craft spilled his heart out, discussing his fears and his anxieties, some of which can be brought on by a distorted image a person has of themselves. The funhouse is mentioned on Dribblin as well:

This funhouse isn’t fun, mirror been showing us wrong things for a while

By ending the album like this, Craft has overcome those distortions and is now confident in who he is. And by including the song Family before this, he is showing us who helped him get to that point.

Craft also uses the album to discuss social issues. On Gang Shit, Craft raps from the point of view of a policeman in verse 1, a KKK member in verse 2 and an inmate in verse 3, using each verse to shine a light on the gang problem in the US, but not the usual gang problem you hear about. Presenting the policeman and KKK member as members of gangs themselves, verse 3 questions why those gangs aren’t treated or punished in the same way others. And the chorus, “America, a whole lot of Gang Shit,” shows that maybe gangs are an inherent part of the country. The song touches on institutional racism and the problems around incarceration, but beyond the message, the song is incredibly catchy, I caught myself singing it while on holiday recently.

Even on a lighter song like Love Hate Interlude, Craft still manages to slip in a message with the line “hate gentrification but boy do I love sushi burritos,” the contradiction many of us feel when the new trendy restaurant opens up and looks banging, but you know that coming with it is increased rent and new tenants. On

Overall this album is one of my favourite albums of the year so far, it is exactly the type of hip hop I like, introspective and witty. I am really looking forward to see Craft’s career grow from this point. And at 26, Craft has plenty of time to develop as an artist.