@B3nchMarQ - 1st Quarter

It's always interesting to observe which rappers start off the year with high momentum, it says a lot about their inherent work ethic and I think we all know by now that B3nchMarQ officially live in studio (like many rappers to be honest). 

Starting off this "back to work" day with a trio of singles collectively titled 1st Quarter, they wake us up with 10K - the opening track which is money focused. Quite ironic if you ask me as January is a month popularly clouded by its money woes, not around here though, B3nchMarQ is calling for the money they are owed. PAY UP or bear the consequences!

The next track is Cashin' Out, a continuation of their previous track which takes the fancy life to another level. I mean, after that cheque clears you finna continue with the lifestyle ain't ya? My favourite thing about this track though is its inherent sense of victory to it. The laid back track is a celebration of how far they've come as a duo as they sing about making it out of their hood onto the national radar of many fans. There's a sense of pride that also rubs off on you with this track. 

The closing track, Styrofoam, really embodies who they are to be honest. The crew (particularly Tkay) is often found with their Styrofoam cups in hand. This last track kinda brings the previous two tracks into a tie by elevating on 1) their lifestyle, and 2) the imagery of celebration that has been built up from the first track. B3nchMarQ has managed to take us through a view of their lives right now in 3 tracks with a consistent level of imagery that can be hard to achieve with such a brief offering. There's no doubt that they arranged this mini EP meticulously given that they have a huge selection of tracks in their storage. This is well executed. An introduction of what's to come from them in 2018. They are sounding clean, confident and in a good space. Keep that music coming boys!