Poetic Pain (Illustrated)

After building buzz with songs like “Karma” and “Red Lights” in the late 2010s, Toosii signed to South Coast Music Group, the Charlotte-based indie label that facilitated DaBaby’s meteoric rise. A joint deal with Capitol Records followed shortly after, and on Poetic Pain, Toosii showed the rest of the world exactly what made the record companies swoon. The project displayed considerable dynamism: He could be a menacing street rapper one moment and a crooner of tender love songs the next, and he could get deeply introspective about his tumultuous upbringing between Raleigh, North Carolina, and Syracuse, New York, bringing it all off with a sense of principle.

The album-opening “Sinners Prayer" is one of several cuts where he showcases bravado and gun talk as potent as any other MC. He switches for effect between a melodic, crystal-clear double-time flow and a more pronounced delivery. But beneath his tough exterior, there’s a golden heart. “Sapiosexual” finds him infatuated with a woman who stimulates him mentally and physically, while “Friend Zone” attempts to convince a platonic companion into taking the plunge into something deeper.

Toosii covers rare ground on “Don’t Tell," empathizing with women who have survived sexual assault and scowling at the men who attack them. He also breaks his strict no-features steelo here, proving he can shine alongside other major names. “Love Cycle” is a sexy autotuned ballad with R&B star Summer Walker, and he trades harmonious rhymes with Lil Durk on “Nightmares.” More mature songwriting would arrive with subsequent projects Boys Don’t Cry and NAUJOUR, but Poetic Pain was a powerful preview of the versatile talent he had to offer.