Take Not3s II by Not3s
“There’s no such thing as the peak to me,” Not3s told Dummy in March 2018. “I hate that concept…I just want to keep elevating.” Such ambition explains the Londoner’s productivity: Just eight months after the vibrant <i>Take Not3s</i> helped place him in the mainstream, thanks to its UK Top 20 single “My Lover”, he’s delivered this follow-up. He once again toggles between rapping and singing as the music blends hip-hop, Afrobeats, R&B and dancehall into fiercely melodic forms. This time though, his agile rhymes reveal a man digesting the good and bad of pop success. “Just Fine” is a joyful victory lap, and “Sit Back Down” offers a withering dismissal of haters and hangers-on, while “Got” offsets triumph with sharp awareness that the more you gain, the more you have to lose.
