Mixtape of the Week: Johnny Polygon - The Catch-Up

I have no idea why I’ve never heard of Johnny Polygon. He can rap. He can sing without Auto-Tune assistance. His lyrics are genuinely clever, defying typical mixtape convention. Some of the top mixtape DJs craft his beats. His hair is out of control. Maybe it’s because he’s from Oklahoma?

Whatever the reasons, the fact that Polygon is so far under the radar of the general populace is borderline criminal. This becomes clear across the sprawling thirty tracks on his new mixtape, appropriately called “The Catch-Up.” Designed for the still-sleeping to get up to speed on Polygon, the tape covers his career from the age of 17 to now.

It’s a scattershot career. The songs range in length, topic, style, tone, and musicality. They vary in quality. But despite the tape’s lack of a focus, the promise Polygon shows throughout it is undeniable. I feel like Polygon is one hit collaboration from breaking into the mainstream. He already made waves with “The Riot Song,” and a Nas collaboration. My prayer is that someone uses Polygon like Kanye did Kid Cudi on 808’s and Heartbreak, and Polygon will enter the mainstream cultural consciousness.

As for the tape itself, it’s hard to take away a single song as indicative of the talent involved. I’m partial to “I Been Runnin,” “Push It Back,” and “The Riot Song,” each of which shows a different side of Polygon. But get the whole tape, sift through it at your leisure, and keep an eye out for Polygon.

The tape can be found on Polygon’s site here.

The surprisingly clever video for “The Riot Song”

-Trap Yates '14