Mick Jenkins Sets ‘Pieces of a Man’ Album Release Date

Mentors are hard to come by in life, but Mick Jenkins takes solace in receiving respect and wisdom from the old heads on his new Kaytranada-produced song “Understood.” So much so that he embraces the power that all men can possess as a father or a mentor in the official visual adaptation of the record. The song will find its home on Mick's forthcoming album, Pieces of a Man.

On Friday (Oct. 12), the Chicago rapper dropped the new song and Nick Walker-directed video for “Understood.” The visual portrays different examples of various phases of mentorship in a man’s life. Jenkins follows the lives of a new father and his young son, a younger brother and his older brother, and an elder father and his middle-aged son in an effort to show his fans how to gain respect from their elders, and the joys of fatherhood.

"So many different vernacular, perspective and points/Went from selecting electives to collecting the coins/To rejecting investments to connecting with legends and stressing acceptance/To fuck it, I write with my left, I'm finessing this joint with my right," Mick raps over the mellow groove.

“Understood” serves as the first single from his Pieces of a Man LP. The project, which comes eight months after his most recent mixtape Or More; The Frustration, and two years after his debut album, The Healing Component,  is set to drop before the end of the month on Oct. 26. On Friday, Jenkins also shared the official cover art on Instagram. The cover features Mick appearing in pieces of broken glass on the hard dirt ground, which may be symbolic of the trials and tribulations he's faced to this point.

Prior to dropping “Understood,” Jenkins teamed up with Smino for their song "New Coupe, Who Dis?" The track was produced by Smino and THEMPeople and features clever wordplay from the Chicago native.

"Killin' these niggas stylistically is a crack rock form/He speaks facts with the caps lock on/Hit 'em in the purse, I know that spirit hurts worse/Excuse my language, I know the truth sounds like curse words," Jenkins spits.

Watch Mick Jenkins’ new video for “Understood” and see the cover art for Pieces of a Man below.—Tony Centeno

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