He caught you with that beat change too, huh? What seemed like it would be yet another cool, calm and collected lyrical display by Newburgh’s own Jacques Laine became an energetic celebration of his progress. It ain’t 2015 no more but we’re still celebrating success, word to DJ Khaled, with new single “Runner.”

Sampling the somber “He’s A Runner” by Laura Nyro, he opens over the wind chime-like vocals with reminders of how far ahead he already is. Right when it seems like he’s really going to talk his shit, like Drake over the first beat in “SICKO MODE,” everything changes up. The beat overwhelmingly envelops you into it’s booming synths as he gets into the hook. “Okay, yeah I’m sliding now, wide swings when I slide down, got a lot of things going for me, big dog, I’m a fuckin’ bully.”

Despite the success, he’s no different than the Jacques who used to fold clothes at Tommy Hilfiger and hit the local bodega for a chopped cheese. He’s reflective yet again, but completely aware of the fact he has a purpose to change the rap game for better. His skillset, passion and ingenuity certainly lend themselves to that reality.

This track is the next logical step for the 23-year-old, having amassed over 100k streams on his single “Check In.” We were brought up to speed on his life, and now “Runner” is foreshadowing his impact on the game. The sky is the limit after touring with Cozz part of 2018. J. Cole next? By the way, Cole, Did my invite to the Revenge of The Dreamers 3 recording sessions get lost in the mail? Eh, we can discuss offline.

Go run up “Runner” before it passes you by.