

Although its title reads something like existential submission, Port Harcourt singer and MC Elestee’s Mentally, I’m Here EP plays more like a declaration of mettle for the Mavin Records signee. Elestee, who has little problem floating between airy melodies and polished rap cadences, eases into the project with some laid-back rapping on “On the Road”, before drifting into the warm, tropical sway of “Company”. On “Space”, her bars land with surety, the MC rapping, “Gravity don’t know me, so she sure as hell can’t hold me.” The Ayra Starr-assisted “On a Low” is a blend of attitude and vulnerability, which gets complemented by the playful looseness she brings to “Liar Liar”. By the time we reach EP closer “Designer Baby”, we’ve been spoiled by her dexterity, Elestee seeing fit to bring us out on an upbeat, danceable rhythm, her finesse fully intact.