Today, I'm reviewing the new mixtape by Vic Mensa, titled Innanetape. Vic Mensa is a young Chicago rapper and former member of Kids These Days. This is my first time listening to a full length project from Vic, but I did love his feature on Acid Rap by Chance the Rapper. Will Vic's new mixtape make him one of my favorite underground rappers?
The first song is titled Welcome to INNANET, and this song comes in with some very hard-hitting drums under a smooth, relaxing beat. Vic flows in many different ways here, as he goes from slow to fast and back to slow pretty fast. I can see he has tons of technical skill. As he combines this with some interesting lyrics, Vic becomes an awesome rapper to listen to on this song. This intro hit hard and was definitely a solid song to start this project off. This song transitions right into the second track, Orange Soda. This instrumental was definitely more laid-back and calm. The hook is catchy and Vic shows that he can really sing. He goes into the verses with some aggression and he has plenty of great lines. This song was stuck in my head, and an impressive piece of work because of how unique it is. Things get more poppy on Lovely Day, as this song was happy and upbeat. Vic continues to constantly change up the way he raps. It makes him such distinct MC. The hook, while very generic, is very catchy and fun to listen to. This was another very impressive song to start off the mixtape. Fellow Chicago artist Chance the Rapper joins Vic on the next song, Tweakin. This was a pretty sick beat, as it was more of a traditional hip-hop beat. I loved the hook on this song, as well as Vic's very quotable verses. The highlight was definitely Chance, though. His verse was filled with personality and charisma. his lyrics were memorable and it was just a great verse. This song was terrific, and definitely a standout.
The next song, Magic, was quite average. It just did not resonate with me the way the first song did. I didn't love the instrumental and the hook was just okay, though he did sing well again. The mixtape went back to being great on the next song Time is Money. The airy, relaxing instrumental sounded great, as Vic flowed over it with perfection. His lyrics on this song were more personal, and they were compelling to listen to. I was extremely impressed with how lyrical Vic was on this song. The hook here was also great. It was simplistic, but it just worked and had a great message. On the third verse, Rockie Fresh comes in and kills it, as he provides a nice contrast to Vic. He delivered the verse with such confidence and delivery, and it sounded terrific. This song was really good and I have no complaints with it. YNSP was next, and I did not like this song nearly as much as others. The hook just sounded hastily thrown together, and I didn't like it too much. This song may have been a little too happy for me, and it was not executed as well as others. This song does get a pass for hte female vocalist, as she sounded fantastic, and was the best part of the song. This track goes right into the next one, Hollywood LA. Another happy song, this one was very relaxed, but I just didn't love it. The beat was nothing special, and Vic sounded a little more generic on these verses. His lyrics were pretty good, but not enough to save this song. The only great part of this song was the bridge before the hook, which sounded nice. Still, this song was average.
The next song, Holy Holy, came in with a soft, minimalistic beat that I liked a lot. Vic had some nice, introspective rhymes on this song, reminding me how good of a rapper he really is. The beat became really good on the hook, which sounded serene and beautiful. Ab-Soul has a verse on this song, which was a very personal one about his passed girlfriend. You could really feel the emotion in his voice, and it was a pretty good verse. This song was another standout, and it was a great listen. After this song, I felt that the mixtape became lackluster and forgettable. The song Fear and Doubt just felt awkward, as I didn't like the beat or the verses by Vic and Joey Purp. The hook was so poppy and I wasn't feeling it at all. There was nearly nothing I liked about this song, aside from Joey Purp's verse, which was actually better than Vic's. Yap Yap was just not interesting at all, featuring another lazy hook and verses I wasn't liking too much. This song was honestly just boring. Run was the next one, and it was probably the most experimental on the mixtape, but it just came off sounding weird and forced. I appreciate what they were trying to do with this song, but I didn't like it at all. The closer was called That Ni**a, and this one was way better than the three songs before it, but still not that great. I liked how personal Vic was with the lyrics, but that was about it. The beat was mediocre and the hook was lazy again. This was an uneventful closer to this mixtape.
INNANETAPE WRAP UP
+Vic is a very creative MC, with many different flows and styles
+Some very interesting, unique beats
+Unlike anything I've heard in a while
+He can definitely sing, and has some very well executed hooks
+Great features
-Some really bad songs
-On a lot of tracks, he doesn't say much lyrically
-Inconsistent
Best: Orange Soda, Lovely Day, Time Is Money
Worst: Fear and Doubt
Vic Mensa- Innanetape
7.6/10
No comments:
Post a Comment