towkio "heaven only knows"
By: Jayo Miko Macasaquit

If Chance the Rapper is saying a guy’s “about to have the hottest tape of 20-15,” you’re gonna give it a chance-and-a-half. You might write it off as just hyping his fellow crew member, but unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past three years you’ll know that Savemoney (Chance the Rapper, Vic Mensa, Joey Purp) is done making a case for a new wave of Chicago Hip-Hop. The case has already been made.

Towkio’s come a long way since his releases under the names Preston San and Tokyo Shawn. On the heels of dropping his breakthrough mixtape, .Wav Theory, this third track release blends John Legend’s pop-gospel “Heaven” with the upbeat snare and happy-clap-rap we’ve grown to love from Chance and the like. Towkio sounds intentionally exasperated; excited. He’s clearly having fun. Eryn Allen Kane enhances Legend’s R&B ballad into a swerving hook, while Norweigan artist Lido’s congested production fills the track nicely.

Chance’s melodic rap squeaking is pretty heavy-evident, and might even steal the ball going hard in the paint…even when he’s not rapping. But it reflects the bigger picture of building the crew’s sound; each member eventually having their time to shine. With .Wav Theory out on April 28th and from what we’ve heard so far, it’s looking very likely that Towkio is next in line.

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