Namir Blade has had a great couple of years. In 2021, he dropped Imaginary Everything, a collaboration with producer L’Orange that put a brilliant spotlight on his introspective, stream-of-conscious flow. “Nihilism,” the dominant single from that record, immediately became a WNXP favorite, an accessible entry point into Nashville hip-hop that couldn’t help but turn heads. So, how does he follow that breakthrough? By fully producing a cyberpunk-inspired ode to a 2001 anime adaptation of the German silent-era classic Metropolis.
That kind of thinking — somewhere between the imaginations of Blade’s Mello Music labelmate Open Mike Eagle and late hip-hop luminary MF DOOM — is what makes Metropolis, Blade’s third record in three years, stand out among the most compelling records released in Nashville in 2022. He plays with vibes and tones, sneaking in sounds that would be at home in Detroit house, Samurai Champloo and Final Fantasy alike. Blade isn’t interested in being anyone but himself, and that kind of unwavering authenticity is right at home with the kinds of music Nashville traditionally celebrates.
There’s a little something in here for everyone — including the trap-laced banger “Cain and Abel,” the meditative crooning on “Guts vs Griffith,” and “Dance Hall,” a punchy tag-team effort with Six One Tribe fam Gee Slab. As everything digitally crumbles into a slow groove following “Deep,” you feel the weight of everything that’s come before, melting away the braggadocio and ego-check rap persona into an earnest examination of why making this music matters. It’s a staggering contribution to the Nashville rap canon — weird as it wants to be, but never losing sight of artistic intent.
