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Mic Capes & Drae Slapz, Sheesh (Self-Released)
[RAP DREAMS] Mic Capes has goals. He's also got threats. And sometimes, they're one and the same. "I might just sell out the Garden/Bet they gonna cut me that check," he raps on his new EP. "Meet all of my favorite artists/Then make 'em a target and go for their necks." On last year's Concrete Dreams, the North Portland MC told listeners about where he came from. Sheesh, a five-song quick-hitter credited to himself and producer Drae Slapz, is focused on where he's going from here. Clearly, he's thinking big. "I might just be the best out the upper left," he boasts on the title track, "and beyond that, that's where my mind's at." On "Well Known," Capes surveys his burgeoning reputation at home, predicting that he'll one day have his face immortalized on the St. Johns Bridge, while "I Might" is a laundry list of even loftier aspirations, from castle ownership to headlining MSG. Slapz's booming, spacious production fits the rapper's bullying lyrical style, framing his voice with little more than low-rumbling bass and flecks of horns and strings. But the highlight here is "Passion Froot," a slinky outlier with a seductive two-part hook from guests Lang and Blossom. Jacking the title of this year's big Drake single to spit some game of his own, it's the first Mic Capes song you can imagine hearing on the radio. That check he's angling for might be coming sooner than later. Aubrey, best protect your neck.
SEE IT: Mic Capes and Drae Slapz play Peter's Room at Roseland Theater, 8 NW 6th Ave., with Rasheed Jamal, Fountaine, Karma Rivera and Romeo Akil, on Friday, Nov. 3. 8 pm. $10. All ages. Get tickets here.