The new tape from Chicago's odd man out Tree has arrived, starring the grainy-voiced rapper and onetime salesman of fine women's shoes. A 17-track church service of sorts,
Sunday School II: When Church Lets Out is the sequel to last year's excellent
Sunday School, a crazy quilt of soul melodies, drum rumbles and stacked voices inspired by Tree's childhood in Chicago's Salem Missionary Baptist Church. As detailed in a conversation with Andrew Noz for FADER's
Beat Construction, Tree builds records from samples, but his methods are self-taught and all his own. This time around there are more collaborators supporting that independence: engineer
Michael Kolar helped mix and master everything,
Creative Control handled videos and art, Danny Brown, Roc Marciano and Tree's longtime friends
Project Mayhem appear. Pay close attention to "Most Successful," where Tree sounds most like a distant relative of
love-promoting overachiever Chance the Rapper. Pausing to let out gasping yelps, he applauds guys who went to medical school, felons running businesses and himself, for making good grades and avoiding drama.
Download: Tree, Sunday School II: When Church Lets Out
