Listen to Punch, “Fear”

Though initially renowned for his business acumen, TDE's Punch has taken to the Internet to give a window into his creative pursuits. His latest offering, "Fear," positions him as one of the more gripping writers in his own family: cascading rhyme schemes, clear imagery, creeping self-doubt. "I was born to take the shot at the end" is probably the operative attitude for every great rapper, an outsized sense of self-importance and the confidence in one's own execution the backbone of countless seminal records. Punch also writes about bearing the weight of the genre after Nas proclaimed it dead in the middle of the last decade; he clearly takes pride in his artists and the strives they've made in carving out their place in rap. Borrowing from the minor keys and on-the-snares flows of the opposite coast, Punch is nonetheless positioning himself as a power player in the West.

Related: Punch Featuring Kendrick Lamar “25″