Pivot Gang • You Can't Sit With Us
The release of Pivot Gang’s much anticipated album, You Can’t Sit With Us, came on Good Friday and over the weekend Twitter feeds flooded with high praise. In part it was an appraisal of one of the most technically outstanding rap albums of the year, but it was also something bigger. Pivot Gang embodies the Chicago creative community at its best. Through collaboration, genuine support and unmatched resilience, the West side supergroup have presented a body of work that proudly represents the city.
The bulk of You Can’t Sit With Us was assembled during a week long stay in L.A., but to get to the point where they’re able to hunker down for a rap minicamp, package 13 songs and have it be lauded as one of the best projects of the year, they first had to go through a damn near decade-long grind, tragedy and a deep catalog of individual projects from Saba, Joseph Chilliams, MfnMelo, Frsh Waters and the Prince of Pivot, John Walt.
This new record sees them again working with Mick Jenkins, Smino, Sylvan LaCue, Jean Deaux, Benjamin Earl Turner, and Femdot, as well as Kari Faux, the newest addition to the extended Pivot family. They all know the type of penmanship skills expected in a Pivot ‘tape and deliver with their own respective highlights.
The album feels in service of each other first and foremost which in turn makes it a labor of love. By taking a step back and acknowledging the bigger picture, the triumph of this body of work makes it even more exceptional.