Photo courtesy of Truly

“I made sacrifices / nothing in this life is free” is the titular line that resonates well with the Tacoma rapper and starting point guard for the BlackHeart Gang collective Truly — or, A Dub, to the close homies. Truly finally blessed us with his brand new single, “Sacrifices,” on December 15th. Collecting a cult following since his Soundcloud rap days, Truly has been diligently camping out in the studio of multi-platinum Grammy-nominated recording engineer Milo Eubank to craft the idiosyncratic sound that reps the BlackHeart Gang, and the rapper is creating a movement in Seattle.

Truly’s sparring partner and BlackHeart Gang CEO Keshawn lent his rockstar vibes for this track, laying down a raspy couplet referencing drugs, cars, and girls, but the song isn’t as cliche as you’d assume. Drawing inspiration from artists like Lil Uzi Vert and Juice WRLD, Truly airs out his successes over a lucid beat with a layer of humility, reminding listeners of the patience and grind needed to create this record. A college graduate and style icon, Truly mixed his street knowledge with his book knowledge to drop a single that is both quality and presentable — two traits that many local rappers fall victim to with their roughly mixed throw-aways.

But, that isn’t the case here. Truly’s auto-tuned voice and effortless flow shows a level of skill that is promising. His largesse is reoccurring over the crooned verse, detailing his aspirations and the common stunting behavior riddled in the rapper’s frenzied life, a common theme to the BlackHeart Gang roster.

If this track is a sign for what’s to come, I’m hooked. The young rapper has continuously teased a full-length project on social media but has yet to confirm. His buzz is still growing, and I’d assume there will be more singles to join “Sacrifices,” but, till then, I’ll be blasting this one on every speaker in my vicinity.

By Mussie Simon

8.7

Vibez

8.7/10

Mixing

8.9/10

Bars

8.2/10

Melodic Croon

8.9/10