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Soon after closing the curtain on his elegantly-penned sophomore album, East Atlanta Love Letter, 6lack spent the next year-and-a-half sonically touring the industry, featuring alongside many notable acts. Veering back onto the solo route with promises of a third album nearing arrival, 6lack quick-served a plate of new music for fans as a prelude in the form of his new EP, 6pc Hot.
Named after the inferno-producing plate of wings, an item for which Atlanta is deservedly well-known, 6pc Hot hones in on the main quality of the wings he named them after — brief but enjoyable for what it’s worth. The EP also boasts some of 6lack’s best qualities: confident bars that focus on his persona and impassioned anecdotes on love, both of which he wraps under his cool, calm, collected demeanor.
6pc Hot begins with “ATL Freestyle” while relaying the thoughts that come to mind on an aimless daytime drive. The song’s name is fitting as 6lack rattles off a few names and places that also call ATL home. From mentions of Young Nudy, Gucci Mane, and the Tabernacle in the song’s first verse to radio personality Greg Street, Kirkwood, and Ann’s Snack Bar, 6lack fixes his rapper cap all while breezily immersing himself in Atlanta and its many beauties. Retracing the footprints he left in ATL throughout his life, the track presents the city and all the things from it that influenced 6lack, rather than the must-know names and destinations a tour guide may offer.
6lack’s ability to fluidly transition from confident bars to heartfelt ballads within his body of work is one that becomes more and more refined with each go-around. Boastful proclamations of wealth and a healthy status in the industry on “Know My Rights” quickly turn to an account of 6lack’s love life on “Elephant In The Room,” where he refuses to compromise his goals and priorities for the happiness of his relationship — to his partner’s disapproval. The latter song reeks of a workaholic’s tendencies while taking a quick dip in stubbornness as he sings, “I know love come and goes / I got so much love I can show / But I got so much shit left to do.”
These accounts of love produce the brightest moments on 6pc Hot. Between “Long Nights” and “Outside,” 6lack invites listeners into his lovestruck thoughts as he aims to make the best out of the circumstances at hand. While 6lack directs his partner’s attention and focus to the joy and satisfaction that awaits them in the present moment on “Long Nights,” he longingly looks into the future he once aimed to ignore on the EP’s closer “Outside.” Coming off his East Atlanta Love Letter outro “Stan,” 6lack once again concludes a body of work by placing his heart on wax and proudly portraying his unwavering feelings towards his partner. Like a preschooler to their best friend, 6lack eagerly anticipates their next playdate all while dancing along the line that reveals the song’s double meaning: anticipating future interactions with the world under more “normal” standards than the current ones at hand.
In a world filled with so much wrong, 6pc Hot presents a man striving to do right in his own life. From avoiding the pains of love to promising the pleasures of it as well, 6lack keeps his neck above water through life’s highs and lows while ensuring nothing gets destroyed in the process. As for the music itself, 6pc Hot is reminiscent of a trip I took to the Wing Bar my first time in Atlanta’s Zone 6. It was here I tried my very first plate of lemon pepper wings. Though it was not the most filling meal, its brief satisfaction made it worth all future trips for more. 6pc Hot isn’t the filling listen an album might be, but like its namesake, it’s certainly a worthwhile starter.
6pc Hot is out now via Interscope and LVRN. Get it here.