Jacquees Returns With ‘Exit 68’ Mixtape

Jacquees celebrated Labor Day by releasing a new mixtape, Exit 68, on SoundCloud. The 16-track collection is dedicated to the highway exit near where the R&B singer grew up in Decatur, Georgia. 

Jacquees doesn’t deviate from his typical formula here: Slow tempos, melismatic vocals that reach back to Lloyd, Avant, and Usher, Nineties samples (Tupac’s “I Get Around”). He’s often most effective on soft, pleading lullabies where the production gets out of the way of his pliable voice and he sings over a single guitar line. That’s the winning combination in “Sumn’ Bout Your Love” and especially “Never Again,” a contrite ballad that asks for forgiveness after a round of “getting too drunk and acting crazy.” “If I apologize about how I’m livin’/Will that buy me some time?” Jacquees sings. “‘Cause I don’t want you missin.’”

Jacquees hasn’t had a hit since 2018’s “You,” which was certified platinum. But he’s earned more than 430 million streams in the U.S. in 2020, according to the analytics company Alpha Data. Jacquees also carries the hook on K Camp’s “What’s on Your Mind,” which reached an audience of more than 2.5 million on the airwaves last week.

In a statement accompanying the release of Exit 68, the singer said he plans to release a new album, PTOF, later this year.