Corner Stories, the new mixtape from the Bronx rapper Don Q, has a sort of Greek chorus running all through it: an unnamed interviewer who keeps showing up, asking Don Q questions in-between songs. Toward the end of the tape, the interviewer mentions what an exciting time this is, saying that Don Q seems poised for a real breakthrough. He mentions a few artists when they were at supposedly similar places in their careers: 50 Cent when he made 50 Cent Is The Future, Wiz Khalifa when he made Kush & Orange Juice, Drake when he made So Far Gone. When an artist insists that his album is a classic before it even comes out -- or when his album features a proxy saying more or less the same thing -- it's never a good sign. But in this case, I can see what the guy is saying, even if he didn't name the closest precedent for Corner Stories. Don Q, as a rapper, has very little in common with 50 or Wiz or Drake, and he doesn't have anything like the commercial upsides that those guys always showed. He's a little closer to someone else, someone who bubbled up organically to become a star. The Don Q of Corner Stories reminds me of the Kevin Gates who made The Luca Brasi Story in 2013. And that's a very good thing.
Like Gates, Don Q is a regional phenom who seems like he could do something on a larger scale, though there's no guarantee. Like Gates, Don Q specializes in hardass street talk over heavy, atmospheric, vaguely gothy beats. Like Gates, Don Q has a sneaky way with hooks; you don't realize his mixtape tracks have embedded themselves deep into your skull until you catch yourself muttering them to yourself while you're driving or washing dishes. Like Gates, Don Q is a gifted, technically skilled rapper who never pounds you in the head with how technically skilled he is. Like Gates, Don Q has one of those deep, grizzled voices that communicate a whole lot just through their grain and texture. Don Q isn't as good a rapper as Gates, but that's not really his fault; Baton Rouge rappers are almost always better than New York ones. (Just talking about the law of averages here. Sorry. It's true.) And last year, Gates -- without making even the slightest attempt at crossing over -- became one of the only rappers to go platinum all year. It's not that hard to imagine Don Q doing something similar in a few years.
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Corner Stories doesn't represent the culmination of Don Q's career or anything; his previous mixtape, Don Season, came out just a few months ago. Still, Corner Stories feels like a leap. It's a heavy, moody full-length, and it's got a cohesive sense of cinematic sweep to it. Don Q is a bit of a throwback; he reminds me of the late-'90s/early-'00s generation of New York rappers, the ones who fused slick punchlines with grizzled gun-talk. And Don Q knows that the connection is there. On Corner Stories, he raps alongside the Lox members Jadakiss and Styles P -- doing that great tag-team thing they do sometimes -- on one track and Fabolous on another. On both songs, he sounds like he belongs. I saw a YouTube comment calling Don Q a cross between Styles P and Lloyd Banks, and I'm having a hard time thinking of a better comparison. Don Q specializes in drug-trade memories, and he raps about those with granular specificity. He's interested in letting you know how it feels to be crouched over a stove in the kitchen of an abandoned house, swirling the spoon in the pot. And more importantly, he's interested in conveying the desperation that would lead someone to a life like that. He raps about drug sales and doesn't really make it sound like a cool thing to do. That's a rarity.
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But Don Q isn't all dour intensity. He has a lot of fun flexing, too: "Look at the whip that I came with / My doors is doing the crane kick." And there's a clear joy in the way he puts together words: "Suburb home owner, I still know the coke aroma." Don Q is coming up alongside another fast-rising Bronx rapper, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie; both rappers are part of the same Highbridge crew. They make a sharp contrast. A Boogie is very much a part of the post-Drake wave; he's a good-looking guy who specializes in sticky and effortless melodies and who isn't above relationship-songs. A Boogie has way more commercial potential than Don Q; in New York, he's already a rising star. But A Boogie and Don Q bring out the best in each other, their styles setting each other off just right. A Boogie brings the airy hooks while Don Q brings the real-world stakes, and both of them sound better together than they do apart. A Boogie only shows up once on Corner Stories, but his song, "I Told You," is a highlight.
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Of the two, A Boogie is the one who's really having his Wiz Khalifa/Kush & Orange Juice moment; the next A Boogie mixtape is going to be a big deal. But Don Q is the one who snuck up on me. Corner Stories is a ridiculously solid rap mixtape, and it feels like the beginning of something. Don Q isn't going to be a sudden sensation; if he's going to ascend to that Kevin Gates fame-level, he's going to have to grind his way there through relentless touring and recording. But he can do it. It's possible. And it's not every day that we hear a new rapper capable of carving out that spot for himself.
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