Drew Mantia is a learned producer who has employed his indiscriminate knowledge of music to build a name for himself within the Chicago hip hop scene. In the process of mastering the beat pad, Mantia has garnered the much-deserved attention of fellow Chicagoans Chance The Rapper, ProbCause, and The Palmer Squares. His work with the latter has flourished into a mutually beneficial relationship leading to frequent collaborations. Developed too were close ties between Mantia and Stank Face Records, through which he released his debut album Feel Good Music.
Feel Good Music served as a platform for Mantia to showcase his ever-evolving excellence as a producer, featuring verses from a host of artists, Stank Face or otherwise. The project originated from a quasi-hedonistic period of Mantia’s life. As a result, it serves as a celebration of the pleasures of life, both big and small, geared toward giving listeners auditory ecstasy.Yesterday, Drew Mantia released his sophomore project THRIVE through Stank Face Records. As one can have come to expect from this diligent beatsmith, the project’s production is devoid of samples.
THRIVE opens up with “Rosetta Stone,” a playful, bounding beat paired with the gritty vocal stylings of Bruce Bayne who forgoes the traditional boundaries of a verse to deliver a slew of existential lyricism. Next, we arrive at the “I Think I Need Ya” triple threat. What began as a single track aimed at conveying the overwhelming longing one feels for a new love interest quickly outgrew itself and fragmented into three portions which in full outline the progression of a romance from inception to demise. To tackle the task of conveying such an arc, Mantia enlists the help of kari, ProbCause, Bruce Bayne, and Ross Augusta. “Up In Arms” features clean, stripped down production to allow CYN’s clever, heartfelt plea for embrace to take the spotlight. The EP finishes up with “Heaven” a track less concerned with lyricism and more focused on creating those feel good sounds Mantia is so fond of bestowing upon his listeners
The EP is just as celebratory as its predecessor, but for different reasons. Less about the present joys of life, THRIVE focuses on surmounting struggles to reach the pleasures of tomorrow. Its progenitor is a darker Drew Mantia, one who was exposed to a slew of disheartening misfortunes in quick succession. With his relationship in shambles, studio no longer operational, and living situation compromised, it seemed Mantia had nothing left to lose. This is a pivotal position for an artist to be in, the freedom from past ties can be devastating or, as in Mantia’s case, liberating. Not content with merely subsisting, Mantia clung to all he had left: his insatiable drive to prosper and succeed. Refusing to see recent events as losses, he took his newfound freedom as an opportunity to experiment and explore the far-reaching depths of his sound. THRIVE is at once the victory lap following Mantia’s marathon of mishaps and the departure down the unexpectedly divergent path that is his limitless future.
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