Pivot Gang – “SoHo Freestyle” (Feat. Kota The Friend) & “Houdini” (Feat. theMIND)
2019 has been a surprisingly robust year for rap-crew albums, and one of the best of those albums has been You Can’t Sit With Us, the full-length debut from Chicago’s Pivot Gang. Pivot Gang, the family team led by emotive young virtuoso Saba, managed to put together a lush, layered, pretty album that never skimps on any of the things you want from a rap-crew album — the freewheeling displays of technique, the shit-talk camaraderie, the jokes. And now Pivot Gang have done it again, dropping two more tracks in what they’re calling their “two-piece tour pack.”
The first of the new tracks, “SoHo Freestyle,” is one of those tracks with the word “freestyle” in the name that isn’t a freestyle at all. On the track, Pivot Gang and Brooklyn rapper Kota The Friend go in over a euphoric, horn-laced beat from producer daedaePIVOT. It’s one more effortlessly furious display from a group of rappers that already has plenty of effortlessly furious displays to its credit.
And Pivot Gang have also shared the lusher, slower “Houdini,” on which they team up with Chicago R&B singer (and frequent Saba collaborator) theMIND. This one, which daedaePIVOT co-produced with Daoud, sounds more contemplative, and it’s got that soulful hook, but it’s still just as full of joyously creative punchlines. Listen to both tracks below.
The self-released You Can’t Sit With Us is out now, and “SoHo Freestyle” and “Houdini” are out now on the streaming services.