‘Sick (At All)’ is one of the more introspective and vulnerable pieces of soulful hip-hop you’re going to come across. ‘I haven’t been sober since I was sixteen’, starts a worryingly honest Neolithic on this lo-fi beat. With an almost spoken word delivery over a minimalist and relaxing beat, he takes you on a journey over his own strained and dangerous relationship with sobriety and substance. He’s wearing everything on his sleeve, the emotions, the despair, and the anguish that alcohol and drugs wrought on him. Neolithic also takes you through his personal relationships and the bad breakups that he’s gone through.
What’s undeniable is the volume of talent that this emerging soulful rapper brings to the table. The flow is never predictable, with constant changeups and lyrical intricacies to keep you engaged with a sorrowful story told with an almost lackadaisical and blunt fashion. There’s no romantic novelisation of the struggle, just an in your face, heartfelt, and compelling tale told with dexterity and restraint all anchored in struggle.