Nick Grant

From Walterboro, South Carolina, rapper Nick Grant upholds the legacy of hip-hop’s golden age through his narrative skill and crisp cadence while crafting rhymes built to endure for generations. In the vein of peers such as Vince Staples, Avenue, and Denzel Curry, he loads his lines with socially aware wordplay drawn from lived events and anchors his sound in sample-driven boom bap rather than trap conventions. He first gained traction via the 2016 mixtape ’88, followed by Return of the Cool in 2017, then issued his Epic major-label debut Dreamin’ Out Loud in 2018. After releasing Welcome to Loveland independently in 2022, he moved to Virgin Music for the 2023 album Sunday Dinner, a project rooted in personal reflection that took seven years to complete.

Shaped early on by Biggie Smalls, 2Pac, OutKast, Jay-Z, Rakim, and Nas, Grant cultivated a deep regard for rap’s past while trading verses with friends in middle school and sharpening his technique through high school. His 2016 mixtape ’88, issued on Culture Republic under Grand Hustle Records, showcased dense lyricism and classic jazz and R&B loops alongside appearances from Killer Mike, Big K.R.I.T., and BJ the Chicago Kid. Later that year he dropped the four-track EP A Seat at the Table Plus One, created in response to Solange’s A Seat at the Table. Early in 2017 he unveiled Return of the Cool, his first official full-length, which displayed greater confidence and lyrical command while again featuring BJ the Chicago Kid plus Ricco Barrino, Dominic Gordon, and WatchTheDuck; the set reached the Top 30 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

Positioned for wider reach, Grant joined Epic and delivered the 2018 mixtape Dreamin’ Out Loud, which included contributions from DJ Khaled, Yo Gotti, and Stacy Barthe. Tracks such as “’96 Bulls,” “The Switch Up,” and “Black Woman” quickly emerged among his most recognized recordings. While still refining Sunday Dinner, he issued the independent Welcome to Loveland in 2022. The following year Virgin Music released Sunday Dinner, an album centered on family yet also containing lighter cuts like “Since Elementary.” ~ Neil Z. Yeung