The Chicago wonder producers' Sophomore solo record is a wonderful reminder to breathe and live life as slow as possible.
DON'T GROW UP TOO SOON. An album title with a message that couldn’t be clearer. It’s a mantra that Chicago-based producer Nascent has finally learned and is ready to share with an audience that’s ready to live by it.
On a quest to showcase the progress he’s made, Nascent's venture is his most mature yet, but one that doesn’t take itself too seriously. One moment, we're treated to a sobering verse from Ab Soul over a moody jazz sample on the importance of taking your time, “live slow, die old”. Then the next we get a stereo banger with Bashfortheworld. There's a duality that ties itself together.
Nascent has been a silent force in Hip Hop for the last two decades, making beats for some of the heaviest titans of the genre, from 50 Cent to Joe Budden to working with the city's most affluent artists of today, such as Saba, Noname, and Chance The Rapper.
The producer was making moves in silence, until 2021, when he found confidence in his footing with his debut project Minus The Bullshit Life’s Great. Nascent's debut solo project was an introduction to your favorite rapper's favorite producer.
An instrumental album full to the brim with color and personality, with features from his most talented friends, it was a producer exploring an idea of focusing on passion, with a few bumps along the way. The theme of that project exemplified Nascent’s talent for expressing more nuanced ideas through instrumentals. There was nowhere to go but up.
It was a demonstration of talent, style, and overall knowledge of the game, but this forthcoming record is the producer's love for the culture incarnate.
This is the second solo record from the producer, but this project is much more than a musical record. It’s the rediscovering of one man's self and a reflection of the career he’s crafted and the life he’s lived.
It’s an exploration of experiencing joy over and over in monotonous moments, at any age with the company you keep, and every song on here exemplifies it.
Right from the jump, DON'T GROW UP TOO SOON is an evolved form from Minus The Bullshit Life’s Great, in terms of ideas and collaborations. There’s this theme that’s peppered throughout the album, completely smacked in your face in certain areas: that aging is inescapable, but its speed is never fully determined.
That theme is first introduced in "Lil Chris (Intro)", a song that includes audio from one of Nascent's personal home movies, along with a skit from the producer himself reminding listeners to "stay inquisitive." "To feed that inner child inside you."
This sets up the album as this narrative focusing on the lessons he’s learned throughout his career, and that’s what we’re catered to. Numerous bangers featuring vividly colorful contributions and elevated instrumentals. All leading to a grandiose closer that organically brings the message full circle.
In pure Donuts fashion, Nascent is showcasing his love of the music in sonically foreword thinking instrumentals, while bringing a handful of friends along for the ride. These aren’t just beats, these are a culmination of one man's love for his city and his colleagues, bringing together icons from the farthest regions of alternative R&B and Chicago hip-hop.
There are countless collaborators from the previous project that return for another swing. Folks who gave Minus The Bullshit Life’s Great its best features return to double down on their chemistry with the producer. Folks like Orion Sun, BJ The Chicago Kid, Saba, Jordan Ward, and Duckwrth bring the same energy from the previous album, but the beats that carry them are elevated, really enhancing their performance.
In his 30-plus rotations around the sun, Nascent has learned that time moves too fast. Memories are forgotten. People come and go. This record starts with a home video audio of him admiring the time spent with his parents, only to end with a lovely send-off from his kid. It’s a full-circle moment. Despite how quickly life moves, there will always be little moments to make last forever.
