Years of self-reflection, earned wisdom, and an identity shift provide the soil for Anthony OKS’s deeply reflective ode to growth, In The Garden. Its six songs dig deep into change, whether in the artist’s personal life—the past year introduced him to 50 new family members in Nigeria and Sierra Leone—throughout his hometown of Winnipeg, and globally as the Black Lives Matter movement has grown into communities worldwide. The resulting album builds on his 2019 debut, Take Time, harnessing its propulsive energy and turning it inward for some honest and present truth-telling. “I use music as a tool to get different things out of me,” he says. “I talk a lot with my people but I don’t always get as deep as I could get. I’m a pretty private person, but music gives me that gateway to let some things go I probably should.” Created at Winnipeg’s Private Ear Recording, rapping and singing over beats by Paalsh, OKS deftly combines Mos Def’s thoughtful verse with Canadian rap legend Saukrates' soulful melodies.