Jackie Chain takes Huntsville’s space age pimpin’ to final frontier

Now signed to Universal/Republic, the Korean-American rapper is about to unveil his buzzed-about debut, I Ain’t Slept in Weeks. Knowing him, it’ll be the year’s biggest bash

Image It figures that Huntsville, Alabama is home to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. Even Huntsville’s under-the-table economy is airborne. The local talent (G-Side, Kristmas, Zilla) does its share of space age pimpin’, beaming in signs of life from a funky otherworld cast in DJ Screw’s silhouette. Newt Gingrich isn’t welcome here.

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Korean-American rapper Jackie Chain is a surprising find in this nether zone. Chain’s cohorts rhyme about the tear of honest work, of playing farm-league ball year in and year out, but you’d never know that Chain has been kicked around a day in his life. His rascally, carousel-like flow hits pleasure centers you may have forgotten were there; with more production gloss, new mixtape The Bruce Lean Chronicles would sound like a springy sequel to Luda’s Word of Mouf.

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Now signed to Universal/Republic, Chain is about to unveil his buzzed-about debut, I Ain’t Slept in Weeks. Knowing him, it’ll be the year’s biggest bash. Chain recently stepped out of the confetti downpour to talk to CL for a few minutes.

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A lot of rappers clam up once they get to the majors. How will you try to avoid those growing pains on I Ain’t Slept in Weeks?