Sean Leon- Narcissus, the Drowning of Ego MIXTAPE REVIEW

Today, I am reviewing Sean Leon's new mixtape, which is titled Narcissus, the Drowning of Ego. This guy hails from Toronto, and I have never really heard of him before. I am reviewing this because of the hype I was seeing from it on the internet. I was pretty curious why Sean is getting more popular from this project. So, I have no idea what to expect. Will Sean Leon deliver on this mixtape?

Let me begin the review by saying this: Narcissus, the Drowning of Ego features some of the most unique hip hop I have heard this year. This stuff sounds like nothing I've ever heard before, and it really is some weird and experimental music. Something must be made clear, though. Unique doesn't always mean good. Sean Leon takes wild risks on every song here, but they don't all work out. Take the first song on the project, Narcissus, as an example. The song is a whopping 10 and a half minutes long, and it doesn't really justify its insane length. As an MC, I don't see much in Sean Leon, but it is so hard to tell. He is very abstract, and his flow is choppy and unusual. Sean will do odd things while spitting, like randomly pausing or saying the same line over and over again. Lyrically, he will occasionally say something profound, but also bring out some pretty trashy verses. One thing Sean can do is put together a topical song, though. I like how a good amount of these tracks have topics on them. Sean does a great job explaining topics on the songs Vanity, Tania's Song, and especially Pretty Girls Put Boys In Cemeteries. The two-part song City is a highlight here, as Sean's lyrics and flow were on point, and the hook was catchy. Overall, this guy is an extremely weird rapper to listen to. It is hard to pinpoint where is skill level is, because he has moments of genius, then some pretty unforgivable moments. I did end up enjoying his rapping after a few listens, maybe just because of how entertaining in can be.

The real beast of this album is definitely is production. Every single instrumental on this project is amazing. Even though it is some of the most off-kilter, weird production I've heard this year, I am still blown away by it. The beats here have a consistently dark tone to them, and the album sounds very dreary and grim because of this. It is a vibe that I really enjoy, and it makes the mood very personal. The opening song Narcissus, starts with some trap style drums, haunting male vocal samples, and a very atmospheric feel. As the song goes on, the beat evolves, bringing in some awesome guitars. The song Vanity feels very twisted and crazy with its unorthodox synthesizers. I love the beat on the track Petty too, as it has some bouncy synths to give the track some groove. It sounds fantastic. The instrumental for Tania's Song is very quiet, relaxing, and happy, while matching the love theme perfectly. It is one of the only beats I've ever heard that sounds happy and dark at the same time. The closing track, Elephant Graveyard, the closer to this project, has some wild production. It starts off extremely sinister and dark, but becomes more relaxed and light as the beat goes on, mixing in some very cool vocal samples. Overall the production on this project is ambitious, experimental, and unpredictable. I absolutely loved it, and it set a distinct vibe for the whole mixtape.

NARCISSUS, THE DROWNING OF EGO WRAP UP
+Sean Leon is a risk-taking, unique, and interesting MC
+Great topical songs
+Excellent production
+Dark vibe throughout
+Incredibly unique and experimental
-A few risks don't work
-Sean Leon doesn't have much technical skill

Best: Pretty Girls Put Boys in Cemeteries, Vanity, Tania's Song

Worst: Liquid Courage

Sean Leon- Narcissus, the Drowning of Ego
8.4/10

Mac Miller- Faces MIXTAPE REVIEW

Mac Miller sure does keep himself busy. This guy has been releasing several projects per year for a while now. Today I am reviewing his new mixtape, Faces. My expectations are pretty high for this, mainly because I loved Mac's two releases from 2013. His studio album, Watching Movies with the Sound Off, was solid, and his mixtape, Delusional Thomas, was one of my favorites of the year. Will Mac keep up the good work on this new project?

With Faces, Mac Miller keeps up the formula he used on Watching Movies with the Sound Off. Hazy and atmospheric beats, memorably goofy lyrics, and some deep emotions make up the majority of this tape. Starting with the rapping, Mac spits really well on this mixtape, maybe better then I've ever heard him. He raps with a lot of different voice inflections, as he may have a deep relaxed voice or a higher, more energetic delivery. I like them both though, and Mac has stepped up his technical skills a bit as well. On some of these tracks, Mac flows effortlessly over the beat and sounds like a natural MC. The most memorable part of Mac Miller's rapping is once again the lyricism. Mac has a huge variety when it comes to what he says. He can be hilarious, but also very serious. There are songs here where Mac will just spit a bunch of funny punchlines, then others where he tells an actual story. My favorite tracks here from a lyrical standpoint are Here We Go, Friends, What Do You Do, Happy Birthday, and Insomniak. Mac also improved his hooks a lot on this tape. There are some really infectious hooks here that I enjoyed a lot. Angel Dust had a very quirky and fun hook, Therapy had a high-energy, fast one, and Diablo had a simple one that became stuck in my head. I was pretty satisfied with the features on this project. There were some pretty surprising ones, like Rick Ross (Insomniak) and Mike Jones (Uber). Both of these guys fit well on their tracks, though, especially Mike Jones, who had a great storytelling verse on Uber. Mikey Rocks (What Do You Do) and Vince Staples (Rain) had solid contributions to their tracks, but the best guest verse came from Earl Sweatshirt on the song New Faces. Earl came out spitting with way more energy than I've ever heard him have, and it made me really excited for his future stuff. This mixtape has one glaring flaw, and its a big one. Faces is extremely bloated at 24 tracks. This is way too many, as there is filler everywhere. Songs like Malibu, Funeral, San Francisco, Colors and Shapes, and Apparition could have definitely been left off to make the tape better. Overall though, Mac's rapping was pretty good on Faces. The hooks and features were solid, and this mixtape had a lot of good moments. Its too bad this thing is far too long.

From an instrumental standpoint, Faces delivers. These beats aren't anything new for Mac Miller, but they definitely work nonetheless. The production here is atmospheric, relaxed, and pretty cloudy for the most part. These are my favorite beats for Mac Miller, as I feel his voice matches them perfectly. I like the beats the most on the songs Inside Outside, Angel Dust, What Do You Do, Diablo, and Rain. While most of the beats are in this atmospheric style, Mac wasn't afraid to try something new on Faces. The song Insomniak is a huge change for him, as this beat is a trap banger. Mac sounded good over it, and I was very surprised to hear him go over such a powerful beat. The song Grand Finale had an absolutely stellar beat. This one was led by some very nice electric guitars, and the whole thing sounded epic. This instrumental was perfect for the last song on the album. My favorite of them all, though, is Happy Birthday. The production on this track was awesome. It was so good, I was convinced it was an Alchemist beat when I heard of it. It features some fast paced drums, and some funky synthesizers come in around the middle. The beats on this mixtape were pretty good, but much like the rapping, it suffers from the problem of there being too many songs. Some of these beats don't stand out quite as much as others, but that doesn't mean they aren't good. Faces had very strong production overall.

FACES WRAP UP
+Great rapping from Mac, memorable punchlines and better flow
+Some really well-executed and catchy hooks
+Features brought a lot to their songs
+Fantastic production, with some ambitious new beats for Mac
-Way too long, lots of filler tracks

Best: Angel Dust, Happy Birthday, Diablo

Worst: Colors and Shapes

Mac Miller- Faces
7.8/10

Freeway & Girl Talk- Broken Ankles MIXTAPE REVIEW

Today's review will be on the new mixtape from Freeway and Girl Talk, Broken Ankles. Philadelphia MC Freeway is someone I've always thought was just OK. I love his energetic delivery, but his lyrics really aren't anything special. The thing that drove me to listen to this was Girl Talk. Girl Talk is a great producer who really makes some unique beats. The guy can chop up samples, mash them together with other samples, and make completely new sounds. How will this collaboration go on their new mixtape?

To put it very, very simply, this mixtape is absolutely awesome. I have barely any complaints about it. Even though it is only 5 songs long, this thing is a high-energy, head-bopping ride that is just fantastic. Starting with the first track, Tolerated, this might be one of the best hooks I've heard in 2014. It is really catchy and you just feel the sheer energy while listening to it. Freeway sounded more focused and lyrical than I've ever heard him as well. The best moment on this track, though, is Waka Flocka Flame's verse. While its not lyrical, you won't even pay attention to the lyrics because of how great Waka's delivery, voice, and flow is. Girl Talk's beat here is luxurious, big, and overall it just sounds monstrous. The song undergoes a sick beat change near the end as well. The second song, Tell Me Yeah, is not as energetic, but still very good. The instrumental on this just sounds so polished and amazing, with its choppy drums and female vocal samples. I also love the way the beat evolved as the song went on.  Freeway sounds great once again, and I liked Young Chris's flow on his verse. This was a pretty enjoyable song, overall. The next song, I Can Hear Sweat, might be my favorite on the album, though. The beat here was an absolute banger. It sounded incredible. The hook was awesome, and a real head-bopper. This track was another that won me over with its sheer energy. Jadakiss shows up for a guest verse, and he sounds as good as ever. I loved some of the lines he had on this verse. This song was great and it was just crafted beautifully.

The fourth song, Suicide, came through with a beat that sounded  more dark and solemn than on the previous songs. I really enjoyed the beat, and I feel like it matched perfectly with Freeway's chilling lyricism. The hook on this song also hit hard and was really catchy. This was the first song on the album that didn't have a guest verse, but Freeway carried the track fine all by himself. The guy is such an entertaining, loud rapper. The last song on the album, Lived It, may have had my favorite beat on the whole album. The female vocals sounded amazing, and the beat had such a great vibe to it. Freeways performance here was once again awesome. He came in with some more personal lyrics and he sounded really good. This song was was a perfect closer to this tape. Overall, Broken Ankles was outstanding. Girl Talk's beats were dense, layered, and I loved the fact that the songs would randomly undergo beat changes midway through. Freeway was terrific all the way through, as he sounded hungry, gritty, and he just grabbed my attention every time he started spitting. The guest verses were awesome as well, and I felt they were well-selected. This album came out of nowhere, but I'm glad I checked it out. It's for sure one of the best albums I have heard all year.

BROKEN ANKLES WRAP UP
+Freeway and Girl Talk have undeniable chemistry, this collaboration was perfect
+The beats were insane; so polished and clean sounding, with great sampling and instrumentation
+Freeway added to the awesome energy of the songs
+Really catchy hook on every song
+Terrific features, Waka Flocka Flame was the main highlight

Best: Tolerated, I Can Hear Sweat, Lived It

Worst: None

Freeway & Girl Talk- Broken Ankles
9.3/10

Future- Honest ALBUM REVIEW

My review for today will be on the new album from Future, titled Honest. Future is a very polarizing rapper for me. There are times where I feel this guy is a creative and interesting artist; like the song Turn on the Lights. That is a great song because it is unique, catchy, and has a great concept. On the other hand, Future has had moments where I feel he is no different than your average mainstream rap artist. He can be very generic and boring, but songs like Turn on the Lights give me hope for this new Future album. Will Future come through with a solid release, or will this be a mediocre project?

The rapping on this album was a mixed bag for me. Sometimes, Future's rapping really surprised me. I came into this album with very low expectations; Future has never been an impressive artist in terms of technical rapping ability. While he doesn't do enough here to make me believe he is a talented rapper, he was pretty solid. His best rapping comes on the intro song, Look Ahead. Future was on beat, switching up his flow, and some of his lyrics stuck with me. Other then this, Future doesn't have many memorable rapping moments here. I don't have a problem with this though, because this guy's best talent continues to be his ability to make excellent hooks. His hooks here are great, and this album just has so many catchy moments. I liked the hooks on Move That Dope, Honest, I Won, and Blood Sweat Tears. These tracks had good replay value, sometimes for only the hook and nothing else. The other thing that saves this album is the features. Are the regular mainstream names are here, but they bring a lot to the album. Pusha T slaughtered his verse on Move That Dope, Drake was great on Never Satisfied, and while it wasn't one of his better verses, I Won would've been boring if not for Kanye West. No feature on this album though, comes close to Andre 3000. On the song Benz Friendz, Andre dominates it, delivering a fantastic hook and an outstanding verse. He single-handedly made this song great. Overall with Honest, Future was a little spotty when rapping, but this album thrived with terrific hooks and features.

If there was one word describing the production on this album, it would be predictable. I didn't go into this album expecting dense, layered beats and I didn't get that. Honest is filled with Southern trap beats that you could find on a lot of other albums. This doesn't mean the beats were bad, though; I really enjoyed a lot of these instrumentals. First, I must talk about the one beat here that is different then all the others, Look Ahead. The production on this song was incredible. The drums on this song hit very hard, and made this track really strong and gritty. They mixed in with these booming claps and female vocal samples. This was the one beat on this album that was really dense, layered, and impressive. I was blown away by this instrumental. Other than that though, these were some pretty generic beats. While generic, this production does work for the album, as I would not want Future to be on anything too different. Move that Dope, My Momma, Never Satisfied, and Benz Friendz were my favorite beats in this stye from this album. I enjoyed some of these beats a lot, but overall, they were a bit too predictable.

HONEST WRAP UP
+Awesome hooks all over the album
+Features were really good, brought so much to the album
+Some pretty good beats
-Future wasn't a very good MC, only was good on one song
-Samey production

Best: Look Ahead, Never Satisfied, Benz Friendz

Worst: Covered in Money

Future- Honest
8.2/10

Smoke DZA- Dream.Zone.Achieve ALBUM REVIEW

Today, I am reviewing Harlem MC Smoke DZA's new album, Dream.Zone.Achieve. I have always liked Smoke DZA. I think he has a distinctive voice and represents New York City's rapping style well. He is traditional and sounds like someone straight out of the 90s. Luckily, Smoke DZA's music doesn't sound stuck in nostalgia, thanks to the beats he raps over. DZA has always had a great ear for beats, and all his projects have had good production. His best work in my opinion is his 2012 album Rugby Thompson, which was completely produced by Harry Fraud. I am excited for this album because it really seems like DZA's most ambitious project yet. Will Smoke DZA keep up his consistency with this new album?

As an MC, I still really enjoy Smoke DZA after multiple listens to this new album of his. He has a super-unique voice that immediately sets him apart from a lot of rappers. When he starts spitting, you know its DZA. He has a pretty strong New York accent, and I like the way he pronounces words. DZA's other best asset is his flow. He just knows how to flow over a beat and is really talented at this. There are never any rough moments in his flow and he always sounds smooth. In terms of lyrics, DZA is inconsistent. One song will have a distinct topic and vivid storytelling, while the next will just be a boring song with lame punchlines. On the song City of Dreams, DZA paints a picture of the tough streets that he came from. His imagery was on point and the lyricism was great. Then, there will be a song like 9Eleven, which was just a boring string of punchlines, in my opinion. That song really didn't connect with me. Luckily, a lot of the songs on this album are strong from a technical rapping standpoint, and DZA is able to carry them that way. Count Me In, Jigga Flow, I Don't Know, Errthang Valid, and Puzzle of Life are all worthwhile tracks. My favorites on this album, though, are the ones with features. Whether its because of the guest or not, these songs were just better than the others. They sounded more focused and polished. The songs Ghost of Dipset, Hearses, Zone, Phat Bastard, and Legends in the Making were all feature tracks that stood out from all the others. I specifically loved Ghost of Dipset, where DZA lays verses over a beautiful, luxurious beat. Cam'Ron even makes an appearance and spits a humorous and well-written verse. On Hearses, Ab-Soul delivers a catchy, emotional hook and DZA is solid on the verses. The song Phat Bastard even featured the best Joey Bada$$ verse I've heard in while. One major flaw with Dream.Zone.Achieve is its length. This album is way too long. There are 20 songs, which is far too many for any album. My personal limit is 16, so this passes that easily. Plus, the lengths are ridiculous sometimes. The last song on the album, Achieve, is nine minutes long. While it was a decent track in the beginning, it quickly became too much and I got bored.  I know DZA was trying to follow a concept with this album, but he could have done it with less content. Nevertheless, Smoke DZA kept up the solid rapping I have always heard from him.

The beats on this album were pretty good, for the most part. They lay down a nice backdrop for DZA to do his thing. There weren't many beats, though, that really stood out to me. By the end, they end up sounding pretty similar. While this is mainly attributed to the album's long length, I still wish the beats had some more variety. These beats, by themselves are good boom-bap instrumentals that I feel any New York rapper could spit over. There were a few great beats mixed in, though. The beat for Ghost of Dipset was awesome. The vocal sample was stretched out to fit with the beat, and it just sounded beautiful. the drums were a nice touch, as well. Phat Bastard had a pretty interesting beat too, and it was done by Kirk Knight, a producer I like a lot. The atmospheric flute sounds were a cool addition to a monster boom-bap beat. Some other standout production on this project came from the songs City of Dreams, Zone, Robin Givens, and Errthang Valid. Overall, I liked a number of these beats by themselves, but the length of the album caused them to really drag on and sound samey by the end.

DREAM.ZONE.ACHIEVE WRAP UP
+Smoke DZA is a really solid MC, has nice verses all over the album
+Some pretty good lyrical tracks
+Feature tracks were stellar
+A few really good boom-bap instrumentals
-Way too long, album seriously gets boring in the second half
-Repetitive beats
-DZA doesn't change it up from a rapping standpoint

Best: Ghost of Dipset, Phat Bastard, Hearses

Worst: 9Eleven

Smoke DZA- Dream.Zone.Achieve
6.4/10