In Memphis, home of tapes, guns and cowbells, Carmike is seen as a forgotten legend – no wonder, after serving 21 years in prison. His myth was fuelled not just by his conviction for homicide but also by his ties to G-Style, a crew that emerged from the Gimisum Family. For a long time, Comin’ At Yo Ass remained his only release, until Carmike was effectively released straight into the Memphis rap revival of 2015 and, with the help of tape king Skinny Finsta, managed to drop a second album. Yet it is Comin’ At Yo Ass that remains the true collector’s item – precisely because of its raw, underground sound: with a bottle of cognac in his right hand and a gun in his left, the Three-6-Mafia affiliate slides timelessly across pre-trap beats by Juicy J, DJ Paul or Skinny Pimp, as if daily life in North Memphis were a perpetual battlefield.
The lo-fi backdrop feels more like a pulp novel set in the hood than the usual horror film moodboard – a welcome change for 2025 ears weary of Memphis clichés. Lyrically, Carmike remains firmly within familiar territory: rhyme, intoxication and rampage dominate the tracks. »Now, visit the land of the hot, just drop, in a pool full of blood/ Wrap you up in a knapsack and drop you off in the woods«, he raps on »Gangsta Sh*t«. The album reads like ego-shooter prose set against a barrage of hi-hats – recorded under a bunk bed at Skinny Pimp’s aunt’s house. Both fascinating and repellent – and above all, deeply creepy.
Comin' At Yo Ass
