Flint, Michigan emcee/producer Jon Connor returning for the 3rd installment of his ongoing 12-part series of extended plays. Someone who’s steadily been holding it down for the last 2 decades including The Calling, Vinnie Chase & S.O.S. trilogies along with the Best in the World series paying homage to some of Jon’s influences, Salvation, While You Were Sleeping & Unconscious State. He was even signed to Aftermath Entertainment for 6 years before departing after Vehicle City wound up being shelved, coming off Food for the Soul & 24 produced by KLC of the No Limit Records in-house production team Beats by the Pound to go on a 3-peat with Smitti Boi.
“Black Messiah” aggressively comes out the gate talkin’ about fightin’ & throwin’ fists until his arms gets tired whereas “No Smoke” takes the trap route instrumentally explaining that [BabyChiefDoIt] using AI to write his raps has to be the dumbest shit he’s ever heard. “So Far Gone” goes for a bit of a boom bap vibe talking about public opinion changing only when you’re dead while “War” apocalyptically confesses to feeling like we’re at conflict.
Reaching the halfway point, “Good Money” addresses a woman who claims to be stripping to make it out the hood except she’s still doing it even after becoming wealthy leading & after “To the Young Lady at the Barber Shop” melodically speaks directly to a female who isn’t receiving the love she wants promising it’ll all be ok, “Come Over” goes for a conscious rap rock direction wanting to elevate the female he’s talking about & leaving the old version of her behind.
“Look the Other Way” begins The Artist Yahn Freeman III’s encore soulfully discussing an experience he had the the other day where he ran into someone he personally knew & they eventually turned their heads after saying something while “Silent Conversations” returns to the boom bap telling everyone who’s tuned in to keep going no matter what. “Things You Can’t Control (For TTT)” soulfully ends the EP talking to a young king who should play this when lost in their thoughts.
So we’re almost a quarter way through 2026 already & of the 3 entries to come out of this whole saga so far, The Artist Yahn Freeman III makes improvements above The Artist Yahn Freeman II & dethroning the 1 that began it all. It’s starting to look increasingly likely that Smitti Boi will be producing the whole series & I can’t complain because the production’s more varied than the other 2 installments, backing the messages Jon’s portraying through his rhymes tend to be more urgent than it’s predecessors.
Score: 4/5
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