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

Bill- Vagrant MIXTAPE REVIEW

Today I am bringing you a review of Vagrant, a new mixtape by Pittsburgh rapper Bill. I found out about this guy after hearing him spit a verse on Mac Miller's Delusional Thomas project from last year. He was not amazing or mind-blowing, but the dude had some natural talent. I was pretty excited to give this a listen after finding out about it. How will Bill's first ever project sound?

Starting with the rapping, Bill can really spit. This guy just has all the skills necessary to catch my ear on a song. He has pretty much everything except an ear-grabbing or unique voice. Where Bill shines is in flow and lyricism. His flow and delivery are both really solid, and there are never any unsmooth moments on this mixtape. He just flows nicely, and manages to switch it up a lot. This guy will never flow with mind-blowing technical ability, but he manages to sound like a veteran on these tracks. The one thing that sets Bill apart from many others are his lyrics. He comes in with some really odd and unique lines all over this tape. His vocabulary is pretty advanced and he just says things that stick in my mind. One small complaint I have with this is its song structures. All of them are pretty much the same, with Bill just straight rapping for about two minutes. If theres a feature on the song, then they have a verse, but its not like there are any hooks or bridges here. This isn't a terrible thing because Bill is interesting enough, but I wish he changed it up a little bit. My favorite songs here are Vagrant, Rampage, Villain, and Raw Product. A disappointment on this mixtape was the song Campfire. I was anticipating this because it featured Mac Miller and Ab-Soul, but it ended up sounding too boring and slow. I've also heard Mac and Ab-Soul spit way better verses before. Overall though, its hard to complain about Bill's performance on Vagrant. He spits pretty consistently all the way through.

The beats on Vagrant are pretty interesting, to say the least. A lot of these instrumentals are dense, with a lot of different musical things going on. Many of these also utilize some unique sounds and noises mixed into the beats. They do have an ongoing dark vibe that is pretty consistent throughout the project, but that is the only thing they have in common. I would say these beats match Bill's rapping pretty well, as the dark nature of the instrumentals match the dark nature of Bill's lyrics. One beat in particular that caught my attention the second I heard it was Villain. This one did a great job of setting the vibe, and it was incredibly melodic and catchy. Some of my other favorites were Vagrant, McGruff, and Campfire. The latter was interesting especially because of how it related to the title. The quiet guitar beat definitely reminded me of someone playing around a camp fire. The beats on this tape were just as consistent as the rapping, with all of them bringing something different, but none of them failing at these risks. None were mind-blowing, but they were all solid.

VAGRANT WRAP-UP
+Bill is an skilled rapper, flow and lyric-wise
+He'll spit some unique lines every once in a while
+Has the talent to carry a straight, no hook type of song
+Great beats, some pretty interesting ones
-Disappointing features
-Doesn't change up the song structures
-Nothing really amazing or memorable, everything is just solid

Best: Vagrant, Villain, Raw Product

Worst: No IOU's

Bill- Vagrant
7.5/10

Onyx- Wakedafucup ALBUM REVIEW

My review today will be about the new album from Onyx, Wakedafucup. Onyx is a veteran New York rap group, and it has been a whopping ten years since their last album. Onyx has always been known in the hip-hop scene for their sheer aggressiveness. Nothing these guys do would ever be called soft, as they go over some the hardest hitting, grimiest beats ever. Plus, Fredro Starr and Sticky Fingaz have some really energetic, attention-grabbing voices. Will Onyx complete their comeback with an awesome studio album?

After giving this project multiple listens, I can safely say I was disappointed. Onyx didn't come through with what I wanted here. While i had a lot of problems with this album, let's talk about what I liked with it. First of all, Onyx sure does know how to make an energetic track. Every song here, whether or not its a good song, will bring the energy and hype you up. These guys yell pretty much all the choruses here, and its just very attention grabbing. My favorite hooks are on The Tunnel, Hustlin Hour, and Whut Whut. I also liked the features on this album. I felt that the songs with features were much better than the ones without, in terms of rapping. The two features I was looking forward to were ASAP Ferg and Sean Price, who were on the track We Don't Fuckin Care. They didn't disappoint, as Ferg may have spit the best verse I've ever heard from him. His flow was on points and his voice came off really unique. It was just a creative verse from Ferg, and I loved it. As far as Sean Price, you know what you will get from him, and he supplied it with his verse. It was the features I wasn't looking forward to, though, that really surprised me, particularly Cormega and Papoose. These two showed up on the track The Tunnel, and both of them killed it, as I loved both the verses. Papoose's verse was an awesome way to end the song. Finally, I thought Reks had a solid contribution to the song One 4 da Team. The features here were consistent, and if not for them, the album wouldve really suffered.

Now it's time to talk about the things I didn't like. Unfortunately, like i said before, this album was a disappointing listen. My main problem is the severe lack of variety. All these songs followed the same formula: A sometimes catchy hook, a Fredro Starr verse, then the hook again, then a Sticky Fingaz verse. They never changed it up. This was why I loved the features so much on this album, because they broke up the monotony. As for these two as MCs, they are nothing like what they used to be. At this point, they are just sounding old. Fredro's verses are straight out of the early 2000s, and I feel Sticky Fingaz was trying a little too hard on many songs here. He is just sounding a little too crazy, to the point where I really get tired of hearing it. Lyrically, these guys came off a little corny, too. As far as production goes, there is not much to say. The Snowgoons put together some very outdated and boring beats, in my opinion. The only beats I liked here were Buc Bac, Wakedafucup, and We Don't Fuckin Care. These were not great, but at least they were a little different and unique. I feel like I wouldn't be able to tell these songs apart if there was no rapping on them.

WAKEDAFUCUP WRAP UP
+Some catchy, energetic hooks
+Solid guest verses, they brought a lot to the album
-Repetitive song structures
-Rapping was very average from Onyx
-Production was outdated and boring

Best: We Don't Fuckin Care, Hustlin Hour, The Tunnel

Worst: Trust No Bitch

Onyx- Wakedafucup
5.6/10

Curren$y- The Drive In Theatre MIXTAPE REVIEW

Today, I am reviewing Curren$y's new mixtape, The Drive in Theatre. Curren$y is a New Orleans rapper who has built up a pretty strong underground following, as he has put out a handful of albums and mixtapes. My favorite project of his is 2011's Covert Coup, which was fully produced by The Alchemist. I like Curren$y, and I've always thought that his slow, lazy flow works for him. It doesn't hurt that he always spits over some great instrumentals. How will Curren$y's new mixtape, The Drive in Theatre, go over with me?

To start off with the production, Drive in Theatre had pretty solid beats overall. Most of them will not blow you away, but they do a good job of setting the mood. The vibe of this mixtape is that is is very relaxed. Seriously, this is the most laid-back project I have heard this whole year. Whenever I just feel like kicking back and relaxing, this is the perfect music to throw on. A lot of the beats on this album are done by Thelonious Martin, a producer who I am really starting to like. He had some nice beats on Retch's new mixtape, but you really get to see his full arsenal on Drive In Theatre. My favorite beat is definitely M.P.R. This one starts with some cloudy, airy synths, which set the atmosphere of the track. Martin then mixes in some old-school electric guitars to create something very unique and creative. I loved it. Martin's other highlights on this tape come from the tracks E.T., Stolen, and High Top Whites. I chose those three just because I like how old-school they are, but also the fact that they have some sort of new-school twist. The closer to this tape, The Usual Suspects, also had an awesome instrumental. It was elegant, and just sounded very polished and clean. Overall, the production here was not incredible, but it did its job of setting a relaxed, smooth, chilled-out vibe. I definitely enjoyed it.

As for Curren$y's performance, he is very consistent, but almost to a fault. Don't get me wrong, I love the way this guy raps. He rides beats perfectly with his very lazy and relaxed flow, while delivering nice lyrics and solid punchlines as well. I also think this guy is unique, as he often utilizes his heavy Southern drawl while he spits. I felt that on this mixtape, though, Curren$y didn't bring something new to the table with the songs. He doesn't really change up his flow, and he always sounds the same. If not for the features and production, that probably would have ruined the album for me. Curren$y just didn't have much charisma on the mic. I can, however, give him props for helping set the relaxed mood of the mixtape. If you're gonna make laid-back music, this is the guy you want rapping. He did have some lyrical tracks on here, such as Vintage Vineyard, Hi Top Whites, and 10 G'S. All of these had a distinct topic, which I like. Features on this tape were excellent. Curren$y had three off my favorite rappers here, and they delivered. Action Bronson sounded great on Godfather Four, and Freddie Gibbs killed it on Grew Up In This, of course. Smoke DZA also had the best verse on the posse cut that ended the album, The Usual Suspects. While I knew those would be good, there was one feature that really shocked me, B-Real on E.T. At 43, the Cypress Hill rapper delivered an awesome verse. He used his wacky voice to his advantage and his flow was impressive. I loved how such an animated rapper was able to fit such a relaxed beat. Props to B-Real. Overall, Curren$y got a little boring by the end, but the features really picked up the slack.

THE DRIVE IN THEATRE WRAP UP
+Laid-back, relaxed, chill vibe to the whole thing
+Instrumentals were very good, set the mood of the tape
+Curren$y helped set the vibe too, his flow and lyrics were consistent
+Terrific feature verses
-Curren$y didn't change up anything with his rapping

Best: E.T,  M.P.R,  Grew Up In This

Worst: 10 G'S

Curren$y- The Drive In Theatre
8.0/10