Mel.Crozby is a relatively young emcee out of Birmingham, releasing his first EP, The Free Tea E.P. in 2017. His second and most recent release was the EP Diplopia in 2018. Now, for his latest project, he’s teamed up with fellow Bham artist Richard Daniel to make iris.

Now up until this point, Richard Daniel has mostly been known as a dual threat, working both as a great emcee and a really talented singer, but now he steps up to the plate as a producer as well. The good news is that he’s clearly been paying attention and picking up tips from all the other producers in town, such as Erthling. or Suaze, because this feels like a project from someone with a lot more experience under their belt. It bobs and weaves its way through trap, boom bap, neo-soul, and more to make this really intimate and emotional soundscape that fits exactly with what Mel.Crozby is laying down on the mic. iris. is ultimately a breakup record, but it’s also much more than that, because Mel.Crozby is also connecting the dots to the discussions about mental health that he started on Diplopia, as well as discussions of how he’s just still trying to grow and build as an artist and as a young man in Birmingham. In doing so, we also get contributions from Kennie BLK and DVYLGHT, as well as a moment where Richard Daniel hops on the mic on “Tango,” which help this project seem bigger than just one guy’s isolated thoughts and feelings. More than anything, I’m just excited to see an artist continue to grow with each release, and I’m seeing that with Mel.Crozby and iris. He continues to expand on his flows and gives you a lot of different looks on the mic, all while keeping his emotional content and his personality front and center, which is what really puts everything over the top here.

Mel.Crozby and Richard Daniel have given us some really smart and emotionally charged hip hop with iris. Hopefully, this won’t be their last project together, because this feels like just the tip of the iceberg.