In a December interview with the music site Elevator, Chicago rapper Adot said he follows his gut when it comes to musical direction rather than adhering to a strict sound. Putting it more succinctly, he said, “My sound is lost.” Adot’s nonexplanation of his musical thumbprint does a good job of hinting at his aesthetic choices. His brand-new self-released EP Midnight contains hazy instrumentals that cloak entire tracks like a fog and sparse, bone-dry percussion that cuts through his cloudlike melodies like a lighthouse beam. Adot finds a lot to do within that gray sonic blanket, veering from terse, fragmented bars to viscous verses that melt into the atmosphere while imparting a skittishness into his performances that suggests he could completely change course in the middle of a song—and sometimes he does. Adot is hardly the only rapper on the Web or in town concocting morass music with hard beats, but he makes a space for himself on his best material. On “Nobody” he sounds like he’s just emerged from a root canal and is starting to remember how to form sentences as the anesthetic wears off—though the results are far more exciting and enjoyable than any trip to the dentist’s office. v
Chicago rapper Adot finds his musical voice by getting lost along the way
