Among the strongest collaborative albums of the year, Mick Jenkins and EMIL bring out the best in each other on their new record, a murder of crows. The pair tell Wonderland about its making and breaks down the work, track-by-track.
What happens when you take one of North America’s most consistent, expressive and intelligent rappers and put them alongside one of the UK’s premium producers? One of the best hip hop records of the year.
From Chicago, Mick Jenkins is as sophisticated and piercing of a lyricist as you’ll find. He’s got a seminal body of work to his name already – the pinnacle being 2014’s The Water(S) and 2023’s The Patience – and continues to front US rap’s vanguard in terms of technicality and thematic depth. His best work has often come atop instrumentals that lean into naturalistic and intricate jazz, and so collaboration with EMIL makes a lot of sense. The South East London beatsmith boasts an enviable portfolio, the brains behind some of the finest work of Loyle Carner and Knucks, two benchmarks of UK alternative rap, whilst also offering up a sharp sonic variety with work with Potter Payper, Doja Cat, et al.
a murder of crows knows what it wants to be. From front to back, we’re transported into a dusty, soulful soundscape of delicate piano musings, atmospheric textures and subtle tonality. There are luscious grooves, snappy percussion, and tasteful samples, with EMIL building a sonic world that gently twists and turns, pursuing a palette that feels nocturnal and cinematic, yet full of vivacity and potency.
Mick sounds as deft and daring as ever. He’s among the most thought-provoking songwriters of his generation, his lyrical musings immersive and immensely literate. Although he’s never been one for pure optimism, this project is up there with his darkest in thematic content, commenting broadly on the state of the world we find ourselves in – from the social to the political, the cultural to the conflict.
“The title is based on old folklore about crows,” he tells Wonderland on the work’s chosen sobriquet. “Crows are scavengers, and when they appear in large numbers, they’re said to indicate impending death. This belief was reinforced during large-scale wars and battles, when flocks of crows would gather and feed on the bodies left behind.”
He continues: “I like the idea that we’re part of that murder. We’ve just witnessed a major battle. Much of what I talk about on this project reflects the state of our culture during and after that conflict. Crows are incredibly smart and vengeful. Farmers see them as pests, so they learn how to retaliate. Emil and I talked about leaning into that spirit – our overall vibe being ‘give me mine’ and ‘y’all got me fucked up.’ Still, the true nature of our feelings runs deep and in several directions.”
EMIL offers further insight into the origins and concepts behind the work. “I met Mick on my first trip to LA in 2022,” he recalls. “Our managers had been talking for a while about making this link up happen – when I landed, we had a session planned but I bumped into him sooner than that at the PIVOT house with Saba and FrshWaters. We didn’t even touch music that day – we just chilled, played ball, and ran 2K – nothing crazy. About a week later we had the session, and off rip, the music we were cooking was already at an elite level. A joint project was inevitable.”
He adds: “Over the next couple years, we kept working, sending ideas back and forth. Nothing concrete came of it at first, aside from adding music to the archive. 2024 came, I was in LA and at that point in my life, I was at a stage in my career where I felt like I had something to prove and the world needed to hear my music. Mick and I got into one of our typical sessions and it was almost like looking in a mirror, he was in a similar headspace – in that session, we went onto make “words i should’ve said” and shortly after the idea of a 5-track collab EP came about. Mick’s artistry has always complimented my production, like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle – so a collab project felt like a natural fit. It was also somewhat of a platform for me to reveal to the world what the sonics of this version of EMIL sounds like in project form. What started as a 5-track EP grew into a year of recording, travelling, and post-production. Naturally, we ended up making way more tracks than planned and out came an 11-track project: a murder of crows – a joint offering from Mick and myself.”
Listen to the album:
The duo share in-depth thoughts on the work, track-by-track…
“Dream catchers”
Mick: These days, I like to start my projects off with a bar-heavy verse. The content of the verse usually covers a general idea of what I’ll be talking about on the project, and that’s exactly what I did here with dream catchers. The idea of a native Dreamcatcher is that when you are asleep, it’s put above your bed or your head with the hopes of catching Evil or negative spirits or ideas, I believe. I kind of put a flip on that with the idea of the industry being a Dreamcatcher; in the sense, it impedes your good dreams, your positive dreams, and the direction in which you’d seek for your career to go. Relying too much on the system or relying too much on the industry and the powers that it wields will catch your dreams and hold up your dreams, which is why the last line of the song I referenced directly with the line “you slept, they net just caught your dream, huh?”
EMIL: This track embodies the album meaning; frustrations, proving a point, the grandness of our individual crafts. I’m the type of producer with an unnecessarily massive archive of beats, always preparing for opportunities. This was one of those beats, built with my close collaborator Tommy Black. Our compositions usually carry a grand, triumphant feel, and I thought it could work perfectly for Mick. Tommy laid the melody, and I built around it with musical and percussive layers.
This was about the third session into making the album. Mick picked the beat and just wanted to go off. It set the tone perfectly for the album, so it became the intro. In post and my attempt to keep the listener engaged, I added layers from fellow musicians and singers, then chopped and arranged them to create movement.
“Words, I should’ve said”
Mick: This song is purely a reflection. I asked myself, what if at the beginning of my and my wife’s relationship, I had to tell her all the things that I struggle with? Tell her all the things that would affect us in our growth and progress throughout our relationship, which begs the bigger question: what if we all had to do that? And so, this song is a conversation between me and my partner or potential partner in a song context, letting them know these are all the things that I struggle with. These are all the words that I should’ve said when we first met.
EMIL: This is the first track we made for the album – another pull from my 700+ beats archive. Mick laid the hook and a long verse, but we felt it should be split in two, with a feature adding their own perspective in between. Mick suggested ENNY, so I sent her the track, she was down and I recorded her verse when I was back in London. Since the beat was just a loop I wanted to use extra instruments as well as a dynamic range of singers spotted throughout the track to make it feel more full – I’m lucky enough to have some amazing singers I can always rely on – I reached out to JaVonté, Ayesha Raquel, Tyler Daley, and Lara to lay some vocal ideas before I did my usual arranging process.
“Eating Crow (Interlude)”
EMIL: A typical thing I like to do when building out projects. Gotta have an Interlude with just music somewhere in there.
“Workers’ Comp”
Mick: This song is very simple about the idea that we have more work to do, which is why it was a central part of the chorus. ‘Workers Comp’ as a title is a way I just like to work in more meaning into the song. I don’t like to waste the opportunity to put more meaning into titles, and the idea of Worker’s Compensation for the type of work that I’m referencing is essentially nonexistent. Bettering yourself for the sake of bettering yourself or for the goal of being a better man or a better human. For the idea of creativity and art, and being a student of whatever discipline your medium is in, and striving to be better in that art, there’s not a lot of tangible reward for doing that work. For failing at doing that work, for taking longer than others at doing that work. It is very much for the goals and ambitions you have within yourself.
EMIL: Rami Sadawi sent over a batch of melodies, and this one stood out immediately. He walked into the studio while it was looping and started writing instantly. I built out the beat with drums, 808s for the second hook drop, and textured layers throughout.
“Pundits”
Mick: In multiple mediums, whether it be art, sports, politics, or even on social media, where we see this actualized the most, as well as television, there are a lot of people who are talking explicitly about a thing that they have not themselves done or been a part of in a major way.
This is very frustrating. No amount of watching from the sidelines could ever give you the perspective of anyone who’s ever been in the driver’s seat. And if you’ve never done it there will always be critical information, perspective, or context missing from your analysis.
EMIL: At this point in the making of the project, and before making this song, it felt like we had a lot of tracks of Mick rapping until the end of the beat without a hook (the guy doesn’t run out of bars). I wanted something that pushed him to craft a standout hook while still leaving space for him to go in on the verses. I studied some of my favourite tracks of his and built this beat around that idea.
“DeadStock”
Mick: DeadStock is, as a title, a sneaker culture reference. When shoes are released to stores and have a general release, over time whatever shoes are left in the store after the initial hype dies down that aren’t being sold are usually called dead stock. This became a slang for sneaker collectors who had very old pairs of sneakers that were still in pristine condition, almost as if they had them sitting like ‘dead stock’. This metaphor extends to the idea of people presenting themselves in the same way, which is something that’s running rampant on social media these days. Presenting yourselves as flawless or unscathed or successful. When the reality of what a dead stock shipment is that it was undesired and wasn’t selling. Collectors only use the slang to describe something that we have been keeping precious, and the way that applies to the human analogy is through the idea of lying about your situation to protect your status
EMIL: This song was made in our first sessions of AMOC. Another beat from the archive. Shout out to Rkay. The beats me and him make usually invoke an infectious/warm feeling, with heavy chords and groove – this one was no different. I wanted Mick in that bag since you don’t hear it often from him. In post, I added BVs, harp, synths, and a beat gap toward the end to highlight his closing hook.
“ON VHS“
Mick: I think there are a few staples of the types of songs that should be on any hip-hop album. The importance of my intros always being bar heavy and a summary of what the album is about; is met with the importance of including one, if not a few, joints where you’re simply flexing your lyrical ability. That is what I sought to do “On VHS”, and the title was just a nod to seeing things in the old way. Returning to just bars on this song as something for the fans to pick through.
EMIL: Made in our final sessions. I felt the album needed a drumless joint to break up the tracks with heavy drums elsewhere. I played Mick the loop and he locked in. In post, I layered instruments heavily to add movement and keep it engaging.
“Move”
Mick: WE HAVE TO MOVE!
We got a mission still.
We can’t be sitting still.
We don’t be listening.
Close, but with differences it’s distance in the way
Cant wish this shit away.
I looked outside and wrote this song.
What a world we live in today
EMIL: This was one of the last few songs we made for the project. Shoutout WavsDontDie – we made a couple ideas in London. This was one of them. It started as a drum loop I did with Blake Cascoe – my guy and an incredible drummer. Then I beefed it up with producer Styles Davies. Wavs ended up chopping a melody for it in the session.
“Shining”
Mick: Shining is simply a celebration of blackness. The imagery that you hear littered throughout this verse is common in black neighborhoods, especially in the one that I grew up in. It is a descriptive representation of black experiences that have defined our culture at different points in our history. That’s exactly what I intended to depict us doing, shining, just as I see us day in and day out.
EMIL: The original idea was built on a different beat, but the industry being what it is, the beat got sold (my mistake). I rebuilt it with Charlie P, aiming to preserve the same pocket and delivery Mick had on the original. It worked out perfectly.
“Coco Gauff”
Mick: Was super inspired by the aftermath of Coco’s French Open win. Sabalenka displayed poor sportsmanship when crediting Coco’s win to her (Sabalenka) own shortcomings and NOT Coco’s skill. Going as far as to say she shouldn’t have even been the previous competitor to make it to the final.
EMIL: The last track we made. The project needed a statement piece which I think we were lacking. I built the “Coco Gauff” beat, flipping drums from an older beat with a darker melody that fit Mick’s tone. In post, I added bass lines and textures to make it hit harder.
“Bigger Than Ever” ft. Kaylan Arnold
EMIL: Created toward the end of the project. Kaylan begun writing a hook as soon as Mick picked the beat, she was crazy efficient with it. The original loop (I made with Marco Bernardis) needed chord changes to give it a lil more life, so I tagged in Moo Latte who helped me rework it. This track ended up giving us a new sound to add to the project, and after post, it immediately felt like the outro.
And that wraps up the project. Shoutout all the collaborators who poured their energy into this and helped bring my vision to life: ENNY, Kaylan Arnold, Tommy Black, Lara, Blake Cascoe, Rambo, Marco Bernardis, Mom Tudie, Beat Butcha, Ayeisha Raquel, Tave, Tyler Daley, R-Kay, Shaan, Javonté, Rami Sadawi, Måns Boqvist, Moo Latte, WAVSDNTDIE, Da-P, Ezra Skys, Kirti Pandey, Charlie P, Red Hat Bassist, Telemakus, Chrio, Davi Carvalho and Tristan Cappel. Not to mention Ty (IDBM) who mixed and mastered the entire project – best engineer in the game.
Words – Ben Tibbits
