Though Chester Watson is only 26, the St. Louis-born rapper and producer has seen enough for several lifetimesand raps as if hes tapped into many more. But after a few years of highs, lows, and traumatic odysseys, he was able to stare straight into the abyss and conquer it. The regained confidence is exhibited on fish dont climb trees, the largely self-produced new album that reaffirms him as one of raps great auteurs. The willingness to both expand his repertoire laterally and dive deeper down each rabbit hole has made Watsons one of the most quietly rewarding catalogs in hip-hop.

Being true to his fractured, discordant feelings requires a prismatic approach. And so you get fishs exhilarating hairpin turns: from downtempo dub (bora bora) to 808s rattling through a haunted house (tourniquet), beats that sound as if theyre molting into new shapes in real time (the two-song suite of daze and grey theory) to ones that that plunge to the bottom of a pocket (spirits). Over all of these, Watson proves more dexterous than ever as both a writer and vocalist, able to get his point across in ten syllables or two, in a full sprint or with his feet planted firmly in the mud. The albums title comes from the maybe-apocryphal Einstein quote, about how a fish judged by its ability to climb trees will spend its whole life believing it is stupid. For Watson, this meant embracing the cheery first half

of the quote (Everybody is a genius), but also being cognizant of the dark undercurrents that flow just beneath seemingly innocent misjudgments and mis-categorizations. As a Black person, were always judged on criteria

that are literally meaningless, he says. With fish dont climb trees, hes committed to only one set of standards: his own.

Tracklist:

1. fish dont climb trees
2. east end
3. eyes closed
4. tourniquet
5. money & love
6. bora bora
7. daze
8. grey theory
9. i feel alive
10. spirits
11. mirrors

UPC: 634457139985
Label: Pow Recordings
Release Date: 9.4.26
Format: Vinyl