Stay close to music

"In its entirety, the LP observes a rapper, vocalist and performance artist inching closer to their purest and most challenging form. For all the right reasons. Once known for operating within the, at times, closed-minded realms of hip-hop, Mykki Blanco is kicking off all labels, barriers and conventions. `Stay Close To Music' is, in all sincerity, a masterpiece that seeks to amplify the voices that have been pushed aside for far too long".

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"Stay Close to Music is captivating. Unable just to play in a background, Mykki Blanco has created an album that needs your full attention. It constitutes a narrative that is not only guided through words, but also sounds".

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"Burning issues and inspired moments are obscured by a succession of guest vocalists on the rapper's pop-leaning latest: Poet-artist-rapper Mykki Blanco has always been important just for existing in America's miserably homophobic and transphobic rap industry. This album, made at the same time as last year's comeback Broken Hearts & Beauty Sleep, sees Blanco sharpening their pop antennae while discussing topics such as racism, feminism and queer pride ... However, the main problem is a constellation of guests, from a tranquillised Michael Stipe to wordy Saul Williams, that first offer welcome light and shade, then block your view of the album's supposed central star".

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