In April of last year, Chicago hip hop artist Jelani Lateef released Cold Days and Dark Nights, 16-tracks of inspirational stories, street gospel, offensive optimism and confrontational reinvention.
Lateef leaned hard toward the hustle with a 14-track mixtape by the same name in January, which is no doubt a result of being gripped with inspiration to spread his message to the masses.
Let me cut to the chase and tell you that you can go to Datpiff to download this new release right now!
The mixtape features new work along with a few hits from his original album -- which you can get on Bandcamp -- but it is also a powerful piece of production in its own right.

Jelani pulled the right trigger when he starts the mixtape with a sample of actor Charles Dutton, possibly from the comedy sitcom Roc which ran in the first half of the nineties.
Unless he makes the headlines for pills and booze, that show represents one with a better moral message to viewers for me, and since then, I've loved everything Dutton has been in; his voice is ingrained in my memory and helped me really get into this release.
Past this and for the first few tracks, I'm hooked.
But the descent is scary, because the messages are about fear, fighting through it and getting to the other side.

I like what Lateef does with the track Dreams which is easily a great representation of what they might sound like on keyboards, hardcore retro synthwave effects.
My two favorite moments are with the track Stay Strong where Lateef takes the lead, handing the chorus and the verse over to reggae artist Fiyah Wayne, who then takes the lead in the track to follow, In God's Hands which for some reason, makes me think about Phil Collins.
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I'm wired differently, what can I tell you.
The progress through the album spotlights a few hits new and old, if you can call a few tracks from the original 2015 album old, or rather, familiar.
Again, the album is preachy for all the right reasons. One being that there isn't enough hip hop out there that inspires and talks more about doing what's right than bragging about jewelry, money and record deals.
Actually, there is plenty of music out there like this along the lines of Kendrick Lamar or Common. Because you don't need but a handful of artists who do this well.
Jelani Lateef provides life lessons through his lyrics, but he's also showcasing his love for music.
He knows how to put a decent song together, mostly driven by what works and he sees it through to completion and being that creatively driven is inspiring too.
Another stand out track for me is Can't Stop Now, the chorus is clean, it's a simple beat and atmospheric just the way I like it.
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And if it wasn't nostalgic enough with the Roc reference from the beginning, there's the closer track where he samples Sade.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5ul53onWnI[/embed]
He doesn't waste time with it either, he gets right into it.
I've been looping that one especially, repeatedly.
There's not enough I can say about this release. It's a great set of tracks, production is phenomenal and I love the way Jelani Lateef channels atmosphere.
And with the high road message put through this entire collection, Chicago would do better if it were run by Jelani Lateef and not Rahm Emmanuel.
Official Site,
@Jaylateef,
FaceBook,
Instagram,
SoundCloud: Manhood Ent label,
SoundCloud: Jelani Lateef
"Jelani Lateef Inspires And Motivates With 'Cold Days And Dark Nights' Mix" by incendiaryAmerican is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at http://wp.me/p6VWlN-1yx [Featured image remix includes image by Geoff Livingston, Manhood Ent and Independent Music Promotions via Flickr, soundcloud / CC BY-SA 2.0]
