You couldn’t get much of a starker sign of the times than the popularity of the phrase “make it make sense”, which K. Sparks and Jazzy ran with for the title of their woozy-with-soul hip-hop collab single. The American hip-hop musician and ghostwriter brought years of heavyweight experience into the release, while Jazzy’s vocals drift through like a sticky-sweet echo from the embrace of an idyllic fever dream.
That softness becomes the perfect counterweight to the cutting cadence of K. Sparks’ emotion-loaded bars. His flow has long since moved beyond proving technical control, giving him plenty of space to focus on the evocative impact of his verses instead. The result lands with a semi-lucid feel, carried by euphonically effortless production that makes you recognise how transient our emotions, connections and current stage of personal history can be.
There is a bitter-sweetness to Make It Make Sense that heightens your sense of sentimentality towards everything that matters to you, while making you yearn for something carrying the same charge of passion on exhibition here. K. Sparks’ catalogue already includes work connected to names such as Kid Cudi, Joell Ortiz, Rapsody, DJ Envy and The Pharcyde, and that depth shows without the single ever sounding weighed down by résumé-polishing.
Fans of Common, Talib Kweli, J. Cole and The Pharcyde should lock into its thoughtful, soul-glazed hip-hop quickly. Make It Make Sense really does make sense, annoyingly enough, on the deepest level.
Make It Make Sense is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify.
Review by Amelia Vandergast
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