Harlem-raised rapper Nakim Williams has a delivery that befits his heritage: hard and no nonsense but imbued with crisp style. He reps “American scheming” over American dreaming, and cites Diddy and Johnny Cash as two of his biggest influences. That said, his new track “Pinky Ring” owes to a different influence: the age-old business of pimping as outlined by O.G.s Iceberg Slim and his 1973 on-screen interpretation, Goldie from The Mack. Some oft-quoted words of wisdom from that film kick off the track before we’re blessed with a hook that leaves no question as to this song’s subject matter: “Ballin’, pimpin’, mackin’ / Ballin’, pimpin’, mackin’.”
In from D.C., SPIN friend Fat Trel delivers the first verse in a mealymouthed barrage of dirty scenarios. Next up is Atlanta’s Miloh Smith — a young woman whose mack hand is not to be questioned. Then, after a far-out bridge, Nakim himself carries us out with a gravelly stream-of-consciousness flow. As Goldie asks us at the start, can you dig it?
