The Heat Index is These Days’ hip hop column showcasing a new hot record we can’t stop playing.

Frsh Waters is one of the best writers out of Chicago. An open secret for years, anyone within an earshot of a stage the West Side emcee has graced, or the Pivot Gang movement can attest to the power felt through Frsh’s penmanship. 

His catalog, outside his stake on the Pivot Gang’s You Can’t Sit With Us album and a few sporadic features, has been limited to just a handful of solo records in the past five years, which is probably the biggest reason his talent is still hiding in plain sight. The thing is, every verse he’s released has been top tier. The bars are always outstanding and he delivers lines with swagger and conviction —only creating more anticipation for his next drop. Call it the Andre 3000 effect.

Frsh’s latest release, “what’s next…?,” follows suit with a more laden vibe than its predecessor, 2021’s “Cloudy Days,” but the airy instrumental —produced by Ambi Lyrics—serves as the ideal canvas for the emcee to expose himself on a deeply introspective level. The two verses are full imagery (Nick Cannon flying us out for the weekend / Predicting my achievements while I'm 30,000 feet in / Hard to think pissy hallways gave me peace when it was either starve or get to feastin’) and metaphors (Conditioned for the season, never freezin’ when it heat up / You bunker down and eat up / Hibernate with heavyweights, lions and hyenas / Sharks that’ll rip you apart..) so vivid you can close your eyes and see Frsh in the studio putting his words to work. As seen above, it’s also hard to talk about his lyrics and not want to quote the whole damn thing. That’s the type of talent we’re dealing with here.

I hope this isn’t the last record we get from Frsh until 2023, but even if that’s the case, this one is a joint I can see myself frequently coming back to for the rest of the year.