McKinley Dixon
Magic, Alive!


4.5
superb

Review

by Randall Cunningham STAFF
June 8th, 2025 | 42 replies


Release Date: 06/06/2025 | Tracklist

Review Summary: we outside, rejoice, rejoice

Magic, Alive!’s jubilant disposition is so infectious that it almost accidentally conceals its core theme. Richmond, Virginia’s own McKinley Dixon has returned to center stage wielding curious queries about the nature of magic itself, where it can be found, and if its power can be witnessed only in miracles like the resurrection of the dead, or in the quieter moments of beating a bullshit court case or a 20 dollar bill falling from the heavens to give you enough to pay rent. The record’s touchstones of searching, loss, and a desire to undo a tragedy only emerge when one begins to look deeper, because Dixon’s next-level presentation of his jazz-rap style continues to resemble nothing short of sorcery. He and his band are on such a hot streak here that they’ve essentially answered Dixon’s own questions about the power and presence of the supernatural by the end of “Sugar Water”, and listeners are still granted an additional half hour after this to be spellbound by the absolute wizardry of Magic, Alive!’s imagination, instrumentation, and divination.

Lyrically, the album is demonstrably strong enough to stand on its own two feet, but I cannot explain just how phenomenally the narratives are bolstered by the instrumentals. Much has already been said about the beautiful and emotional beats that populate the album’s singles, so it should be no surprise that the divinity of the saxamaphone continues to color the arrangements beautifully as one dives further in. The album does a great job balancing and flowing between emotional slow jams (“All the Loved Ones”, “Listen Gentle”) and jazzy, funky midtempo bangers (“F.F.O.L.”). Of particular note are the drums, which can be observed cutting through the title track and accenting the syncopated emphases of Dixon’s bars, as well as taking the spotlight themselves on tracks like “F.F.O.L.”, “Crooked Stick”, and “We’re Outside, Rejoice!”. The latter track is notable for giving the band some shine over the course of a 90-second instrumental intro, a brilliant artistic choice from Dixon that highlights the athletic tightrope walk of the bass guitar, the warmth of the organ, and ethereal wind flourishes.

“Sugar Water” rolls the boulder that is the album’s narrative downhill with force, introducing the crowd to a crew of grief-stricken boys desperate to conjure the supernatural and bring their dead friend back to life. Dixon’s flows and wordplay are as on point as ever, with beautiful layered vocal harmonies, the distant sounds of clinking glasses, and propulsive auxiliary percussion accentuating the boy’s eventual rebirth from the asphalt as the turning point of life itself. Magic acquaints itself with youth throughout the album by wearing two faces, and here it makes itself known as slippery and uncontrollable. Something is off about our resurrected friend, to the point where listeners are left wondering if it’s truly him at all. Observe the way in which the album’s arrangements evolve in the wake of this revelation, as Dixon’s instrumental backings become stormier, more deeply layered, and more unpredictable. His traditional jazz leanings are given a more Latin edge on the dizzying “Crooked Stick”, while “Run, Run, Run Pt. II” features the same jaunty drums as its predecessor, only to be accompanied by a much more labile and ominous piano riff.

“Recitatif” is Toni Morrison’s first and only published short story, its namesake a reference to the murky gray area between song and dialogue that occurs during an opera when the plot needs to be moved forward. Its central characters, Twyla and Roberta, are lost and found by Morrison during three crucial periods of their lives, though none more important than their childhood in the 1950s Jim Crow South. Dixon’s song of the same name begins steeped in this plaintive nostalgia, but suddenly switches beat and tone to the aggressive present day of adulthood, almost as if to lament the loss of the magic of youth and condemn its disappearance. Make no mistake, the live band taking five for this digression is intentional; Dixon and frequent collaborator Teller Bank$ spit over a furious boom-bap loop with venom, stomping, shooting, and chopping their way to the track’s conclusion.

As one progresses through the tracklist, Dixon’s conceptualization of magic as trapped within the crystallized memories of childhood becomes more apparent. “Listen Gentle”’s central visual of quarters being pulled from behind ears conjures up images of the hot summer days that dominate the recollections of the title track, on which Dixon recounts running through humid heat with peers, bound by nothing except the unmistakable call of his mother’s voice to return home. The absence of magic becomes palpable to him in these moments, culminating in a wondering of whether things “Could’ve Been Different” and a desire to abandon ship by jumping off the roof, with just an inkling of hope that his wings could magically carry him into the night sky. As guest star Blu opines on this track (while deftly referencing every previous Dixon project by name), it’s important to open one’s mind to optimism, as it’s the only way to be love, and recover the magic within.



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user ratings (58)
4
excellent


Comments:Add a Comment 
YoYoMancuso
Staff Reviewer
June 8th 2025


19774 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

this! dude!! loves!!! exclamation points!?!?

ashcrash9
Staff Reviewer
June 8th 2025


3487 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

excellent review yoyo. peeped this earlier today and don't find the whole quite as compelling as BPJ yet but the great tracks are just as magnificent as those ones. honestly wish he had fewer features - on both projects, the ones where he operates solo have carried him. either way, nobody else is doing jazz rap better this decade

someone
Contributing Reviewer
June 8th 2025


7250 Comments


"journal entries from when the heat waves had us buzzing
found out one boy was superhuman the other simply wasn't"

Calc
June 8th 2025


17705 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

love this guy. have this in my queue for this week

Bilbodabag
June 9th 2025


204 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

this dude simply on another level right now

Bilbodabag
June 9th 2025


204 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

I don't think this quite matches the highs off of BPJ (Live From the Kitchen Table is an all-timer that will forever be hard to top), but I think front to back this is a much more consistent and probably better overall record

YoYoMancuso
Staff Reviewer
June 9th 2025


19774 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

agreed, this album doesn't have a "Mezzanine Tippin'" to drag it down, it's consistent fire the whole the way through

butt.
June 9th 2025


11282 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

So good. Forever one of the most underrated rappers. Been saying it since 2018

YoYoMancuso
Staff Reviewer
June 9th 2025


19774 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

I gotta check out his older albums

MTObsidian
June 9th 2025


504 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

So glad to see that this is fire like BPJ. Excited to give it a spin when I can! Great review.

botb
June 9th 2025


19257 Comments


Stoked to hear this. Rva got some serious artistry going on these days

Flashmobba
June 9th 2025


3141 Comments


I thought this was a girl for the longest time based on the name

MarsKid
Emeritus
June 10th 2025


21057 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

McKinley is the truth

botb
June 10th 2025


19257 Comments


Man that song with icecoldbishop and pink siifu goes craaaaaazy

dedex
Staff Reviewer
June 10th 2025


13009 Comments

Album Rating: 3.9 | Sound Off

my mama gon whoop yo ass

MillionDead
June 10th 2025


6302 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

I feel like I would be into this

dedex
Staff Reviewer
June 10th 2025


13009 Comments

Album Rating: 3.9 | Sound Off

deffo your typa shit Million - the previous one is a slapper too

Pajolero
June 10th 2025


1499 Comments


So happy I discovered this dude a couple of years ago — easily one of the most underrated talents in hip-hop these days

Hertzy
June 10th 2025


96 Comments


I'm not the biggest Hip-Hop fan but his previous album was really good. Excited to hear this

gryndstone
June 10th 2025


2938 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

knocked my fucking socks off



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