Chè Noir – Grandma’s Cookies

Playa Haze hands Che Noir a beat that’s gritty and smooth at once, and she does the simplest thing possible with it: raps, start to finish, with nothing dressed up around her. “Grandma’s Cookies” grows out of the memories that hang around long after childhood, and the warm, nostalgic title is only the way in; underneath, it’s a case for substance and authenticity as the two things hip-hop can never do without. Buffalo-born and now based in Atlanta, she follows “Urban Essence”, produced by Mobb Deep’s Havoc, with a second look at It Takes A Village, out October 23 on Poetic Records.