Mississippi rapper Dear Silas can brighten the grayest winter

When Jim Beaugez wrote about the hip-hop scene in Jackson, Mississippi, for Rolling Stone in September, he called rapper, singer, and trumpeter Silas Stapleton III the biggest act in the city. Stapleton performs and records as Dear Silas, and his fluid flow, breezy melodic sensibility, and irrepressible optimism help him stand out on a national stage, not just in his hometown. On last year’s It’s Giving Self Love! (SND Village), he raps like he’s in a crowd of friends and trying to get them to dance or laugh. Sometimes he can do both, like on “Groceries,” where he sails through the self-checkout and ribs the person shopping with him about buying too much to carry themselves; the carefree air he adds to his lilting, half-sung delivery is a perfect fit for the instrumental’s frisky, wispily tuneful flute loop and gently seesawing groove. Silas digs into a grab bag of styles throughout It’s Giving Self Love!, including quiet storm R&B (“I Ain’t Stressin Today”), gospel (“Thank You”), and minimal, dreamy pop-rap (“I Love Me”), so that the album as a whole could double as a portfolio demonstrating his range of skills. On the best songs—including “Insecure,” a syrupy-smooth rumination punctuated with funky keyboard runs—he glides between rapid rapping and suave singing so smoothly that he sounds ready for the biggest stages he can find.