Songs Rhino loves, #56: Kur - “Credit” (ft. Lil’ Durk, prod. Kyduh)

Mournful, elegiac rap often gets to me.

This one is YouTube only; Kur is from Philadelphia, and his guest, Lil’ Durk, is from Chicago and has been popular for about 10 years, carving out a lane for himself as one of those rappers who emotes very intensely does so almost exclusively through AutoTune. Kur, who is a much more conventional rapper, is the more interesting of the two; basically everything he says on this song is some kind of lament about how difficult his life is and how little he believes it will be worth his time to do anything to remedy it, considering the inevitability of yet more suffering. A very hardened perspective from such a young man, but the compassion he strives to show to the unnamed dear one he’s talking to moves me, and so does this rapturously gorgeous beat; it’s the kind of thing that reminds me of what little experience I’ve had with avant-garde electronic music, and it’s almost too beautiful to bear. The roughness and sweetness make for a very potent combination, one that I suspect will move many of you, even those of you who have no time for rap or only have time for rap without “street” elements. I warmly recommend it!