The OG Canadian UK import before Drake has returned. Tre Mission has had an interesting career and really come into his own since the Malmaison mixtape first dropped back in 2011. He’s collaborated and rapped amongst grime’s finest – from Wiley to Skepta to Merky Ace - but Orphan Black sees him sharply cut open his own lane in the scene.
Orphan Black, as the intro, title track and latest drop from his third album, is an interesting of change of pace for anyone familiar with Tre’s work. The song (and by extension the whole project) opens with a haunting opener of pianos and strings. It’s a long moment and for a moment you might forget you’re about to hear someone rap over this, but once the drop hits Tre brings you into his territory.
Tre backs up the arrangement with his signature style of hard hitting drums and bass. It’s an open beat that shows off Tre’s talent as a producer and ability to make something that sounds simple but impactful. It’s just like his powerful statement at the end of the hook – “I make sure everything we make bulletproof”.
Lyrically the performance from Tre shows an improvement from his last efforts. His lyricism is clever and vivid, and a clear evolution from the Toronto rapper who would freestyle with JME on street corners. Bars like “I see the clones in new clothes, broke it down to the glucose” are cold alone without even mention of his Tekken references and other gems.
The flow is on a higher caliber than we’ve seen from Tre too – we’ve seen so many rappers from around the world on drill inspired production whether it’s in Australia, France, or even the US – but Tre proves that time truly is the best teacher. The song clearly has it’s UK influences but like a lot of his music, thanks to his nearly 10 year strong experience with it, his thick Canadian accent never really sounds out of place.
The song has a stripped back sound that makes the video really shine too – it comes more like a score than a track especially with the long string section in the intro and the clean visuals.
You can watch the visuals for Orphan Black on Youtube above.
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