It's safe to say that Jidenna's dapper jam "Classic Man" was one of the songs of last summer — if not the song of the summer. However, with not much noise made from his camp since the song's rise to the top, many have been quick to write the red-haired gentleman rapper off as a one-hit wonder. But if Jidenna has anything to say about it, he's just getting started. To that effect, he performed his new single "Chief Don't Run" during the pre-show for Sunday's BET Awards and has subsequently released the single for the masses.
"Chief Don't Run" sort of picks up where last year's "Long Live The Chief" left off, with Jidenna bragging that he's never left the throne. He rightfully brags about the success of "Classic Man" ("Look what we did with one song out here / Like a locksmith opened every door out here / Ya dealing with a king, not a kong out here") while asserting that his rise hasn't been a fluke ("The new Godfather, keep your old mobsters / Matter fact, you can keep your old Oscars").
While his flow is fairly nimble here, something about the energy of the song isn't meeting the same level of his previous releases. We realize that every song can't be a party anthem, but the production here — which is mainly a thudding kick drum, vocal samples and repeated stabs of bass and 808 — lacks the punch to match the lyrics. That's not to say that it's bad, just that it's slightly underwhelming. That being said, we'll still be on the lookout for Jidenna's official debut, Long Live The Chief, when it arrives later this year.
Check out "Chief Don't Run" below and let us know how you feel about it in the comments.
