“How Did I Get This Deep?”

For a while now, Jazz Cartier has been tipped as the next big rapper out of Toronto, and if the lead single from his forthcoming Fleurever mixtape offers any indication, he may have finally arrived. But “How Did I Get This Deep?” is hardly triumphant. Rather, it’s a moody, conflicted track that finds the 24-year-old rapper looking both inward and over his shoulder.

Over a haunting, chime-heavy beat, Cartier nervously eyes his newfound haters and takes stock of how far he’s come (“We used to round up change just to eat at Wendy's/But shit I’m tryna’ count change in the back of Bentleys”). He raps forcefully and precisely, but dips into a hysterical voice for a few bars as he admits to almost losing himself on his way to the top. The song ends with what sounds like Cartier’s internal monologue, a cloud of chattering, pitched-down voices that try to convince the rapper that he’s in over his head. On the cusp of success, Cartier is figuring out how to draw power from his weakness as much as his strength. But as it turns out, he might have his sights set even higher than that: “Fuck rapping, gotta make it as a man.”