There was a point in Renz Young’s short career where he was on a tear, with songs like “Congratulations: Tres” and his 2975 project. But I — selfishly — didn’t feel that was enough, hoping he’d drop songs a bit more frequently than every could months.
He later followed with freestyles over Drake and Chance the Rapper songs amidst a handful of loosies, which all lead to pumping up his new project: It Was Nice Knowing You.
It’s been over a year in the works, but the Milwaukee native shares 10 tracks, mostly produced by himself and Derrelle Rideout. Over that year, he’s sprinkled samplings of the project with “Pastures” and “A Northside Love Story” — both which highlight Renz’s natural ability to entice listeners with his storytelling across varying soundscapes.
“I wanted to take select years of my life and explain what I was thinking at that time,” Young told us over email about the project. “[The title] is simply saying farewell to anything that’s not progressing me to a level I want to be at, whether it be negativity, procrastination, or anything as simple as haters or doubters. I’m at a point now where it’s either you with it or you ain’t. I don’t have time for in between.”
But the wait — or, the impatient wait if your antsy for any artist to push out new material at an unreasonable rate — is worth it, as Renz tackles self-doubt followed by self-perseverance, societal issues, his prideful blackness and more.
Stream It Was Nice Knowing You below, and cop the project on Renz’s website.
Here’s the video for the album’s lead song, “RedLight,” too.
