Life has been tumultuous for queer rapper and performance artist Mykki Blanco since 2014’s excellent Gay Dog Food. In 2015 he announced he wasn’t going to make music anymore revealed that he was HIV positive, and dropped his Dogfood label’s C-ORE compilation. But since dropping “Scales” at the beginning of the year, it seems he got his verve and resolve back. Blanco will finally drop Mykki this fall.

The lead single is “The Plug Won’t.” Blanco’s voice is surrounded by his go-to aesthetic of zooming synths, hard 808 drums, and sustained atmospheric flourishes for a nice blend of electro and hip-hop. Though he spits a few of his usual confrontational, attitudinal bars, the song melts into a tender plea on the hook as he sings “The plug don’t love me like you/ The drugs don’t love me like you/ The club don’t love me like/ Life don’t treat me right.” It a cleverly balanced song that oscillates between hard and soft both in aesthetic and lyrics. It also captures the ambivalence of finding a love that you can’t do without, but don’t want to surrender yourself to completely. Blanco back. If this song is any indication, this album should be a memorable one. Listen.

Tracklist:

01 “I’m In A Mood”
02 “Loner feat. Jean Deaux”
03 “High School Never Ends”
04 “Interlude 1″
05 “My Nene”
06 “The Plug Won’t”
07 “Hideaway feat. Jeremiah Meece”
08 “Interlude 2″
09 “You Don’t Know Me”
10 “Fendi Band”
11 “For The Cunts”
12 “Shit Talking Creep”
13 “Rock N Roll Dough”

European tour dates:

07/29 Berlin, DE @ YO! Sissy Festival
07/30 Amsterdam, NL @ Milkshake Festival
08/06 London, UK @ Visions Festival
08/20 Ottawa, ON @ Arboretum Festival
09/04 Brighton, UK @ Patterns
10/05 London, UK @ XOYO
10/06 Bristol, UK @ Exchange
10/07 Sheffield, UK @ The Harley
10/08 Manchester, UK @ Soup Kitchen

Mykki is out 9/16 on !K7. Pre-order it here