Grynch’s still young career has been one of slow progression. On his debut album, This is What I do, the Ballard emcee unsuspectingly blazed onto the 206 hip-hop scene with an undeniable flow and knack for making solid, party-rocking hip-hop that sounded great bumped from your car on a hot summer day.

In subsequent releases including his latest EP, Chemistry, Grynch has taken a few steps forward in the complexity of his rhymes, but still not much has changed. His flow is still solid, his rhymes even more effortless and natural, and the beats are still big and sound great with the volume turned up loud. Grynch’s music is accessible West Coast hip-hop that should appeal to virtually everyone. So why do I still feel mostly underwhelmed?

Probably because the subject matter of Grynch’s rhymes remain fairly one-dimensional. He’s got the braggadocio down pat, which is always important in hip-hop. Emcees spend roughly 35% of their time listing the reasons why they are so dope. Grynch continues to follow this tradition on Chemistry.

He also remains focused on rhyming about his struggle in the game and the challenges he faces coming up. Again, it’s important subject matter, but the problem here is that Grynch is two full albums and two EPs in, and he’s still telling us about it. We’ve been knowing about the struggle, dude. It’s a little early to say it’s getting tired, but I often found myself tuning out the lyrics in favor of just listening to the beats.

And the beats, as on Grynch’s past releases, remain top-notch. They’re loud and full, and they sound great on headphones with good bass response. Standouts include the title track, which is an absolute Grade-A banger featuring One Be Lo and “A Dream Undeferred” the emcee’s altered take on the Langston Hughes poem.

Chemistry feels like a big release because it features the likes of One Be Lo and Seattle hip-hop royalty RA Scion and Geologic (and their cameos don’t disappoint). Unfortunately, however, Grynch just hasn’t taken that big step forward lyrically. He can rock a party better than most and the fact that he generally sounds incredible doing it allows him to get away with the repetition in his lyrics. Eventually, however, Grynch needs to show us more in order to stay relevant.