Smoke Sessions 4 Finds Apex Evolving Without Limits

New Wave
Sep 26
2 min read

Apex’s new project plays out as both a declaration, blending sharp storytelling with shifting soundscapes that move from soulful reflection to raw defiance. Across its tracks, he stitches together moments of personal history, social commentary, and flashes of ambition. In an audio depiction of a conversation with himself in the mirroe, he reveals an artist intent on carving a legacy that is as thoughtful as it is uncompromising. Rather than presenting a finished arrival, the album shows Apex in motion.

Apex begins his latest project not with hesitation but with a plunge. The opening track “Out The Water” drops us straight into the deep, guided by Tony Seltzer’s shimmering production that bubbles and swells like a tide at night. Over it, Apex raps as though he is both chronicler and prophet, piecing together fragments of the past with glimpses of what still lies ahead. The voice is assured, almost declarative: this is legacy in the making.

The storytelling sharpens into snapshots of lived experience. One of the most striking moments arrives on “What’s the World Mean To You Part II.” Here the bravado recedes and something fragile takes its place. Apex speaks less to an audience and more to himself, questioning not just the future but the possibility of becoming its highest version. The honesty in those lines lingers, suggesting that spiritual healing may stretch far beyond ritual, beyond easy answers.

This project carries with it the echoes of Apex’s early education in sound, hours immersed in the worlds of J Dilla, MF Doom, and Madlib but it does not rest there. The Smoke Sessions trilogy introduced him as a formidable writer with an ear for atmosphere. What we hear now is not a repetition of those beginnings, but a sharpening.

Apex has built a work that refuses to settle in one mood or one texture. It ebbs, crashes, and softens like a tide, always pulling us forward. This is the story of an artist still becoming, a stark reminder to his peers “Don’t ever

talk about my prime I’m nowhere near that.”

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