Listen to Nino Paid’s “Black Ball”: The Ones
Nino Paid, photo by CR
Nino Paid: “Black Ball”
Heart-on-sleeve rhymer Nino Paid’s new mixtape, Can’t Go Bacc, is throwing me for a loop. Is this where DMV crank meets cloud rap? Half of the beats have these melancholic yet fantastical Zelda-esque pianos and lush, sparkly synths that could have been on 808s & Dark Grapes II. Check out “Black Ball”: The crystalline keys make the beat feel like a rainbow appearing in the sky after a downpour. That works for Nino Paid’s writing, which is all about how the battle scars of his youth have made him stronger: “Sittin’ in school I was never a scholar/Anger problems, bruh I’m just like my father/For all of them reasons I gotta go farther/For all of my people I gotta go harder.” The way his quick, muttering flow smears the words only adds to the mistiness.
With artists releasing songs at a fast and furious pace, it’s difficult for the average hip-hop head to keep track of it all—no matter how tapped in they are. That’s why we created The Ones, a daily post to highlight the song you need to hear.
Check out previous Ones, and listen to new rap from Nino Paid and more on our Spotify playlist.
Originally Appeared on Pitchfork
