Cam Wallace – HurryUpAndWait
First there was The Kitchen and the numerous false starts that followed. Then Houston native Cam Wallace settled down in Atlanta, cranked out numerous singles to gain intrigue about his actual rapping considering his production was always top notch. Even after giving people a freebie in Trill Pack Vol. 1 (download here), Wallace knew his [...]
50 Cent & DJ Drama – The Lost Tape
For his first Gangsta Grillz tape, the man who pretty much brought mixtapes to the forefront & the DJ who kept them there team together to bring (and this will be overused as long as the two of them are alive) “quality street music”. 50′s been on a slow uptick for awhile now after The [...]
OneHunnidt – Keep It 100
Long awaited and aided by a career boost during SXSW, OneHunnidt’s Keep It 100 project features a more refined and improved rapper as opposed to the one who made his last project so personal it seemed like audio catharsis more than just a regular mixtape. Shedding his “merely a poet” title with every freestyle and [...]
Jay-Von – F.Y.S.M.D.A.L.A
In contrast to his two previous mixtapes, there’s a universal theme surrounding Jay-Von’s F.Y.S.M.D.A.L.A mixtape. Aside from it being hardashell to actually pronounce, the Mo City emcee builds upon general angst and defiance and rides it through another heavy handed 23-track tape filled with skits from the spoof film that sort of gave us the [...]
Lecrae – Church Clothes
What exactly makes the message The Message? Is it the track that embeds itself behind it or the words themselves? For years now, Lecrae has been seemingly teetering in a musical no man’s land. In a culture where vulgarity meets the message with animosity and impetuous thoughts of uprise, the Houston native of course works [...]
imaGenius – Garage Sale
Visually, you’re drawn to The Lower Class’ resident producer imaGenius’ new beat tape for all the little easter eggs you find stashed away. There’s a Dr. Doom mask stashed away in the corner, a half bitten Donut sitting on the fence and a toy robot peeking around the corner. We’re not going to ruin the [...]
Meek Mill – Dreamchasers 2
We knew this was coming. Meek Mill pretty much purveyed street gusto and the feelings of a youth uncaged from Philly on his first national release Dreamchasers. What followed was a summer that was lava hot thanks to his high energy, amped up tracks and guest features from some of the game’s best. Now, a [...]
9th Wonder – Tutankhamen
The mighty 9th is a man of his word and gives the fans (and aspiring rappers) a forty-track beat tape composed of some classic and easy to spot 9th beats (“The End”, “Bodega” “Barbershop”) and others that fall under a unified theme of ambiguity. The Tutankhamen project, appropriately named after the golden boy king of [...]
DJ Chose – Right Place, Right Time
There’s a bubbling sub-genre in Texas rap, that of the party scene particularly at Prairie View. Known for such luminaries musically as DJ Mr. Rogers & Kirko Bangz, the college nestled just outside of Houston has taken it’s atmosphere of partying and energetic club life and bottled it for certain artists like Beat King, Brook [...]
Jadakiss & DJ Drama – Consignment
There’s no real difference between bald Kiss and this version of K-I-Double as Yonkers own sees a renewed focus with his DJ Drama assisted mixtape Consignment. Heavy handed thanks to 19-tracks and features from the likes of A$AP Rocky, Wale, Meek Mill, 2 Chainz, Jeezy, French Montana and more, Kiss even grabs a few original [...]
