“Ya should be glad I pushed my mixtape back,” is a line from Mykki Blanco’s “Join My Militia” and it’s the truth – we are. Mykki is the feminine alter ego of Michael David Quattlebaum, the New York based poet, lyricist, and rapper. It’s been a hectic year for her full of collaborations and studio work with some of electronic music’s most promising acts. In the time since her debut “Mykki Blanco and Mutant Angels” she’s compiled tracks that accentuate aspects of her flow and personality, which we’ve had glimpses of over the last year. With “Cosmic Angel: The Illuminati Prince/ss” we get a picture not so much of what she is, but what she potentially could be. Just as Michael is becoming comfortable and finding himself, so is Mykki in terms of artistic development and vision. Everything else aside this is unquestionably a hip hop tape and a strong one at that, especially in comparison to the constant flow of subpar, visionless releases a lot of artists put out.

First up on the chopping block are the beats. The beats rarely fall short and the constant flow of weighty instrumentals are prime for Mykki’s distinct voice. The first half in particular is crammed with back-to-back smashers courtesy of Sinden, Brenmar and company. UNO wonderboy Gobby is behind one of the trippiest in the batch, “Riot”. Lyrically it’s all about debauchery and nightlife and the instrumental is perfect for that with its twisted synths and breakdowns of sporadic kicks. It’s obvious these were handpicked and nothing was used out of convenience. This is indicative of another one Mykki’s characteristics – no compromise. The second half of the tape focuses less on the thump of a club sound system and more on lo-fi recordings. The change results in recordings that lean on abstract storytelling rather than play on words and phrases. Her poetic side is at the forefront and “Mendecino California” is where it really comes to a head with phrases like: “In recovery I close my eyes and cast a spell to the wind / quietly chanting / quietly wanting / quietly wishing”.

The odd thing about this release is the surprisingly loose song structure. Aside from tracks such as “HazeBoogie”, “Fuckin The DJ”, and “Wavvy”, the word chorus doesn’t quite fit. It often feels like the verses are separated more by the constructs of the beat than a catchy hook. This lack of top-of-mind phrases doesn’t take away for the music; we feel it adds more detail and depth making the listener less likely to turn on autopilot during certain spots. There’s also the lack of features (other than Le1f): Mykki really threw herself into this making it a true representation of her.

It’s obvious a lot of care went into the song programming for this release and it was purposely segmented into two parts, but for those who like to listen to full lengths in their entirety it may be prove difficult to power through because of the bunching. Still her vision and the people she enlisted to help carry it out make this a one of the year’s more interesting mixtapes. As we said in the beginning, this gives us a look at the potential in Mykki. Not only can she make some of the most screwed up sounding music out there (see her earlier releases), but she has the ability to take the core of something, flip it, and package in a different yet approachable way.

Stream: Mykki Blanco – Cosmic Angel: The Illuminati Prince/ss

Mykki Blanco’s Cosmic Angel: The Illuminati Prince/ss is available now on UNO NYC.