Texas Platters

Young Nick

With the souled-out "Don't Feel It" dropping ill communication on rappers "spitting that nonsense, all violence," Young Nick's Gone EP, his first, crosses over to the local's eclectic tendencies. The Dirty Politic head honcho spits (throughout) and spins his way through seven of 11 bangers, fronted by the sweeping swagger of "Back to Hip Hop" and the playground-stomping title cut. That's where the uniformity ends. Shifting from cruise to crawl, the intergalactic minimalism of "N*ggas" cuts out of L.A. to "Act Hood" for Houston, while Dresta's bullish growl that tremors "The Madd Bomber" finds itself in one corner opposite the Track Bangers' "Drop," nodding to Swizz Beats with its New York bounce. It's Nick's way of flashing his deep arsenal. On the mic he fills bars relentlessly ("Needed You"), and the ATL-soaked "Dirty Politic Boys" gets Gone on another laudable journey.