Music| Listen to Jazz Cartier “Count On Me”

• Though he’s only put out a handful of songs, Toronto’s Jazz Cartier feels like one of the more compelling, varied artists to come out of one of hip-hop’s quieter capitals. New single “Count On Me” shows yet another side of a rapper who’s flipped Toro Y Moi samples, exhibited manic energy over dark, forward-thinking grooves, and bounced between escapist bravado and introspection.

His most personal release to date, “Count On Me” sees Jazz recounting the bumps and bruises of youthful love. Blunt and uncommon in some of its decidedly romantic sentiments (“I wanna take my time and learn you like an instrument/I’m tryna get you hot, burn you like a cigarette”), it’s a song of vulnerability—the type that might draw sloppy comparisons to another emotional Toronto native, though it plays more as forlorn narrative than late night confessional. Another strong step in Cartier’s growing catalog.