Artist: SolAlbum:

Dear Friends, EP Vol. 2Release date: May 21 (Today)Rating (Skip, Stream, or Buy):

Download for free!In a recent e-mail, Sol wrote about his latest EP, a free six-track release: “I write these songs free of premeditation and creative limitation, but not free from hard work and pursuit of perfection.” For many other musicians this level of high-minded artistic contemplation might seem disingenuous–but not for Sol, and that becomes explicitly clear once you listen to the second installment of his Dear Friends, series. Simply put, this is the best Sol has ever sounded; the rhymes are tighter, the flow smoother, the swagger bolder, the stoner raps higher. Even his singing voice sounds better on the hooks. The guest appearances from some of the city’s finest, including Grynch, Prometheus Brown, Thig Nat and J.Pinder, only accentuate that Sol has an ability that makes him undoubtedly deserving of the company. For an emcee up to this point frequently referred to as “young and talented,” the distance he’s come even since the last installment of Dear Friends, and the obvious self-consciousness he displays proves an already skillful rapper has come into a whole new level of maturity. The life he loves is the life he’s living, and the music just keeps getting better and better.