“Significant Half” by Imark

The multitalented, melodic rapper known as Imark is back this October with some of his best material so far in the single “Significant Half,” and while it was tailor-made for slow jam fans, it’s more than just a stone-cold ballad. Smooth grooves are the name of the game in “Significant Half,” which is undisputedly one of the more instrumentally intricate tracks that Imark has ever released, but there’s also plenty to be said about the lyrical style he uses here and how much it’s grown in the last ten months.

This isn’t the first instance in which he’s stoked a lot of interest from discerning listeners across the board, and my gut tells me that it will not be the last.

This fall’s hottest singles have been lopsidedly bass-heavy, but that isn’t the case with “Significant Half.” Imark doesn’t have to weigh down the backend of this track with any of the oversized basslines that you’d normally find in something geared specifically towards the nightclub crowd because these beats are already dense enough to sustain the vibrant flow of the vocal on their own. In a year that has been plagued with a lot of gluttonous behavior on the part of pop musicians, Imark is setting an example that his peers and rivals alike could stand to learn something from.

Imark gives an emotional performance every time he picks up the microphone, but he’s pouring his heart out to the audience in “Significant Half.” The narrative in this single isn’t even particularly sensitive, but there’s never any doubt as to his authenticity throughout the song. The instrumental melodies have as much of a story to share with us as Imark himself does, and though both have less than four minutes to impart their message, nothing about this track sounds rushed, forced, or thrown together in some last-ditch effort to connect the aesthetical dots.

Though I can’t be certain, I think that a lot of time must have gone into fine-tuning this master mix to be as lean and mean as it is. The vocals, organic melodies, and percussive tones are very delicate, but they’re not at all brittle, which is a distinction that I feel is more than necessary to make, and the mix provides them with just a little bit of assistance in staying as warm and evocative as they would be in a live setting. Much like the actual material that it supports, the production quality here is worth a round of applause for sure.

I was admittedly expecting a lot out of this latest release from Imark, having been fascinated with his seminal single “Sweet Victory” and its impeccable counterpart in last year’s “Top (ft. Magician),” but I am pleased to say that “Significant Half” is utterly smashing everything that I had been hoping it would be. Imark is finding some consistency as a songwriter, some strength as a singer, and a lot of confidence in his lyricism, and that combination is going to lead to some great things as the decade comes into focus. 

Mindy McCall