Destiny EP

Back in April, when J. Dante dropped the Whole New World EP—a collaboration with DJ/producer Man Mantis of Dumate—something just didn’t quite add up. Sure, Mantis’ layered grooves and sped-up samples sounded great and worked off of each other cohesively. However, Dante’s rapping was too low in the mix, his clean vocals on “Hi Love” and the EP’s title track falling in and out of key with little confidence, and many of the lyrics weren’t too affecting.

Fast forward about two months and Dante has joined forces with Chicago producer DawnsSon for the Destiny EP; a synth-heavy jaunt that falls somewhere between the infectious, breathy pop choruses of Drake and the sci-fi ramblings of Downtown Science. Apparently, a lot can happen in a couple of months; Dante’s flow sounds much more realized and confident, whether he’s churning out a melodic, auto-tuned verse on “Hi Love 2.0” or borrowing a bit of East Coast sting from GZA on “Get In Line.” Also, Dante’s slight lisp gives his delivery a surprisingly refreshing curveball to whip at listeners when he’s spitting out lines like “Thanks to everybody / Raise a child, takes a village / I swear to be a man / no cry over milk spillage” on “I’m Ready.”

While this might be Dante’s strongest effort to date, it still lacks on one crucial aspect: lyrical themes. While both the flow and delivery is top-notch, many of the lyrics sound a bit slapdash—largely opting out of any sort of introspectiveness, storytelling, or vulnerability. Dante rides on finding a hundred different ways to tell the listener how creative and different he is instead of simply being creative and different. Shortcomings aside, the Destiny EP is still a fine effort and shows a great deal of promise.