Taking a page out of Drake’s playbook, Chicago-based hip-hop collective Pivot Gang released a two-track EP Sunday, featuring Kota the Friend and theMIND.
TWO PIECE TOUR PACK
“SoHo Freestyle” ft @KotaTheFriend
“Houdini” ft @themindOUT NOW 🏃 🏃 🏃 https://t.co/Xg2ZsusSFU
— PIVOT GANG (@PIVOTGANG) August 5, 2019
With no hook, Pivot Gang and Kota the Friend trade verses over seconds of separation to let the first track, “SoHo Freestyle”, breath on a soulful-ish, sample-type beat. Though he was last in the pecking order, Frsh Waters’ verse may have bested his fellow groupmates and special guest. Waters closes the track out strong with bars that epitomize Pivot Gang’s mission statement.
“I need legit since my business legit, I was poor,” Waters says. “N***a broke up out they mold, never broken on the code/And it’s cold where I’m from, runny nose in the slum/Run these shows and we ’bout to run the game, what we done?/We beat the odds, it was never in the cards from the jump/Need it all, you can call, but we really on the run.”
Trading in their no hook structure on the first track for a theMIND chorus, the second track, “Houdini” is a more cohesive offering. Still, like with the first track, there’s no theme. On a drive-and-vibe beat, theMIND’s chorus is the focal point of the song.
“I can make magic with my right hand, anything they left was meant to go,” theMIND says. “All my blessings been told, look how I turned out in gold/Houdini.”
While not a full-length release, Pivot Gang enthusiasts thirsty for more songs since the collective’s debut album will enjoy the group’s two new songs. In April, the collective released their debut album You Can’t Sit With Us. With the release of the aforementioned album and his sophomore solo album Care for Me, the collective’s De Facto leader Saba was enlisted by J.I.D to support his “Catch Me If You Can Tour” late spring into the summer.
You can stream the EP here.
