Around 2:00 a.m., in the early hours of a Monday, rapper Lucki Eck$ decided to let loose his anticipatory Freewave EP. The nine song project has seen a rollout over the last couple months, with Lucki releasing a series of freestyles and "freewaves" on his SoundCloud account. 

After we heard the fourth freewave, he dropped a set of visuals that acted as two songs within one music video (freewaves four and three, in that order). After that, we saw another visual, this time with "Freewave 7". It didn't matter that we hadn't heard 5 or 6 yet, it didn't matter one bit, as Lucki seems to be entering a new realm of hip-hop formation. The artist started the year off with his EP X, even self-producing a few of the tracks, and this time around, these seemingly loose, wavy freestyles show yet another layer of the xanned out Chicago artist who's still in his formative teenage years.

In the past, a great deal of Lucki's songs highlighted the production aspect of his creations. Single-handedly creating "alternative trap" by developing a unique ear and rhyming over production from Plu2o Nash, Hippie Dream, and others, Lucki continued to link with significant producers like Vela Seff and Skywlkr for a spacey, atmospheric vibe that remained unique to himself and himself alone. This time around, however, the production seems to be thrown in the back burner. Simple loops and quick creations in order to showcase Lucki's lyricism. Thankfully, it pays off, as his new Freewave EP reminds the rap world just how many (not Xanax) bars Lucki has in him. For example, he released this new EP in the wee hours of the morning, only minutes after he was done rapping, providing yet another verse for the free project. The late night feelings are real. 

While this project might demand a lengthier review down the line once it's properly digested, this is something you should currently be listening to (if you're still awake).