American rapper Mick Jenkins has released a new single “Smoke Break-Dance” to announce his newest album The Patience. According to Pitchfork, the new single is produced by Stoic and features JID. A follow-up to his 2021 album release Elephant In The Room, The Patience is set to release August 18th. In addition to the single release, the artist released a music video directed by Andre Muir, which can be viewed via YouTube below.
The new single features a distorted and distorted jazzy beat with smooth vocal performances from both Jenkins and JID. The music video features shots of young men drinking, smoking, fighting, gambling, and suffocating themselves. The meaning of this imagery is shown by the inclusion of a quote from Bell Hooks, a late author on social issues, mid-video: “The first act of violence that patriarchy demands of males is not violence toward women. Instead patriarchy demands of all males that they engage in acts of psychic self-mutilation, that they kill off the emotional parts of themselves.”
On the new track, Jenkins said: “As best I can be, I am a person who does everything within his power to change his situation. I think with some level of consistency, that behavior inevitably leads you to a point where you have to wait. A point where the things that now need to happen to move you forward are no longer in your control. I see this as a period of time in one’s journey, no matter the length, where the unseen things must take place; the muscles must tear and repair, the understanding of a concept coming to you in a moment completely devoid of artistic intention. It’s through these moments where I’ve found myself being the most frustrated with patience. And this body of work sounds like that frustration.”