Jon Wayne

A few years ago, a rotund young Caucasian with a formidable beard for someone under legal drinking age announced that he was releasing a seven-inch record with lauded L.A. indie label Stones Throw. Years passed, and the MC/producer released mixtapes and cassettes with the label, but the seven-inch never arrived; eventually it was revealed the single was expanded into a full length album, Rap Album One.Jon has been various things in his past work, often combining an odd braggadocio with a somber self-loathing. At times he's knocked it out the park like on the sublime "With A Child," but sometimes his reach exceeds his grasp.The latest leak from Rap Album One is "The Come Up Pt. 1," a very good rap song. Jon delivers a blistering beat that combines elements from boom-bap with modern trap sounds. He sounds confident and at home on the introductory verse before allowing the homie Scoop DeVille to come through with the sundae-topping cherry of a verse centered around childhood stunting.I hope we see much more from these two because they seem to bring out a very interesting side of each other. Jon makes rap that doesn't sit comfortably in a box and that's a great thing.