Music Existence Because of Music, We Exist
Coming alive with moderate optimism, a fragile melody driven equally by a bass and a sexy sway emerges and imparts a chilling glow with every note that it emits. Something is coming for us just over the horizon, and whatever it is, it means business. The essence of the melody is partnered with the beat in perfect cadence, with the tone reverberating into the ethers for what feels like an eternity. Mike Smiff grabs the microphone and starts spitting verses like it’s second nature, and as we come into the first stanza of lyrics in his new single “Go to Ya Head,” it becomes overwhelmingly obvious that we aren’t listening to a song that was designed for the mindfully manipulative stylings of club DJs alone.
Smiff swings as hard as his beats do in this track, but he doesn’t let his words violently disrupt the fluidity of the music in the background. The bass beats aren’t gritty, and the drums don’t grind, but there’s a lot of unvarnished tension coming from the instrumentation that emphasizes just how sweet a singer he is in “Go to Ya Head”. Every verse is outfitted with a fleeting echo that makes the hardest of harmonies angelically adapt to the space in the master mix, and as indulgent as the vocals get as we inch towards the chorus, Smiff goes out of his way to keep the content of his lyrics free of bombastic camp and recycled references. He’s getting intimate with us here, and he wears the vulnerable persona quite well, to say the least.
The chorus sways back and forth between our speakers like a pendulum, and in the delivery of the words, we start to feel the impact of the emotion in their narrative. A vibrant desire to go bigger and better than the competition. A fleeting inspiration. A sense of intensity that has become the hallmark of a new generation of hip-hop. If similar songs from rivals were statement singles, then this song is the culmination of Mike Smiff’s artistic odyssey toward complete self-awareness.
As the song slowly disappears from our airspace and only the echoing tonality of the honey-sweet beats that we’ve just heard remains, it’s easy to give into temptation and play “Go to Ya Head” all over again. It’s a powerfully emotional single from an artist who has found his sound, and learned exactly what to do with it to make it look and feel as iconic as that of his influences’ is. I’ve been listening to some smart hip-hop, pop, and trap music lately, but this track manages to bring the best of each genre into one melting pot of melodies that is irresistible even after numerous listening sessions, and once you’ve given it a chance to sink its sharp hooks into your chest, I think you’ll be inclined to agree with me. This is a player’s market, and in this artist, we have a rapper who is ready to take things to the next level of the game.
Vera Mitchell
