Editors’ Notes Medhane’s Ba Suba, Ak Jamm was one of the more interesting underground rap releases of 2018, a sketchbook of thoughtlets set to mud-slow soul chops and fragments of daydreamy jazz. Featuring contributions from like-minded introverts Mike, Navy Blue, and Slauson Malone, Own Pace gives the Brooklyn artist more room to run. Not that Medhane runs. Refer to the title: Here’s a guy who moves as he’s moved to, mumbling through reflections, aspirations, troubles, and dreams with the unhurried intimacy of inner monologue (“Smallsteps,” “On Me”). Production-wise, it’s more straightforward than Ba Suba—“Affirmation #1” has the velvety, dappled-light quality of an early-'70s soul track, “Stranger” works in some strings—but only straightforward by comparison. Like Earl Sweatshirt (a cosigner and aesthetic godfather to Medhane’s group of peers and collaborators), Medhane comes off as someone who isn’t dying to be heard—a refreshingly quiet confidence that makes you lean in and listen up.