Today, I'm reviewing the new, debut mixtape by Chicago rapper Lil Herb, Welcome to Fazoland. I only found out about this 17-year-old MC a few weeks ago, and upon hearing a few songs, I liked his style. The guy raps with a lot of aggression, and just comes off as a tough, hard-nosed rapper. Welcome to Fazoland is this guy's first legit, real body of work, and I was pretty excited to give it a listen. Did Lil Herb come through on this mixtape?
Like I said earlier, Lil Herb's best quality as an MC is his delivery. The guy is basically yelling his lyrics on most of the songs here, and he just has a very tough, mean sounding voice. Herb is really commanding the listener to hear what he is saying, and it works. Whenever his booming voice comes in on a song, I am immediately hooked in. Lil Herb's flow is pretty decent on these tracks. He has a lot of different flows, going slower on some songs, then slowing it down on others. None of his flows really sound that different or interesting, though. While Herb's lyrics are not his strong point at all, some of his lines just stick in my head. This is probably not as much about the lyrics themselves, but the way he delivers them. This guy seriously uses his gritty voice to carry tracks. The song 4 Minutes of Hell Part 3 is definitely the toughest here, and Herb just sounds awesome. He raps with a whole lot of passion and aggressiveness. Herb also does a good job here of making catchy songs, and a few songs on this tape have awesome hooks that got stuck in my head easily. This guy can really put together a banger, using nothing but energy to create some awesome tracks. Koolin, On the Corner, Mamma I'm Sorry, Another Day, and Still Fucked Up are my favorites here, and I love most of these for their aggression. The most surprising moment on this tape was Herb putting together a serious, lyrical song with Mamma I'm Sorry. The title is an obvious giveaway to the song's content, and even though it is a common rap topic, Herb sounded really emotional and angry on the track. I really do enjoy a lot of these tracks, as Lil Herb has one of the best deliveries I have heard in a while.
The beats on this mixtape are not really anything special, but they do their job: match the level of aggression that Lil Herb is rapping with. These are just some banging trap beats that are, bringing some serious energy to the table. Not one of these beats could be described as mellow. These instrumentals are dirty, loud, and mean, matching the rapping very nicely. I do have a few problems with the production, though. The beats end up really samey by the end, and there are only a few on the album that are unique or different from your regular trap beat. One of my favorites, though, is the song Koolin. This one mixes in some dramatic opera vocals with the high hats and makes an epic trap instrumental. Overall, though, if you took away the MC, these beats would be incredibly weak. Luckily, Lil Herb is there to make the beats sound a lot better. There were very few features on this mixtape, but they were decent for the most part. The best was easily King L on Another Day, who absolutely killed his verse and made the song great.
WELCOME TO FAZOLAND WRAP UP
+Herb spits with so much aggression, he is able to carry songs with his voice alone
+Some songs have very catchy, well done hooks
+His flow just works, he has lots of talent
+Beats match his aggression
-He doesn't have much in terms of lyricism
-Instrumentals are very, very generic
Best: Koolin, 4 Minutes of Hell Part 3, Another Day
Worst: Ain't For None
Lil Herb- Welcome to Fazoland
7.5/10
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