Remember back in the day when hip hop groups that were also record labels dominated over a certain period of time? Like Death Row and Bad Boy in the mid 90's, Cash Money and Ruff Ryders in the late 90's, Roc-A-Fella and Shady/Aftermath in the early to mid 2000's. Just to name a few. Well now today, it seems Maybach Music Group could be that next group to dominate like the others of the past. Taking Young Money out of the equation, is there really a more fast rising popular rap group right now than MMG? In the last few years Rick Ross has certainly put together an impressive team of MC's. Even though the roster has continuously changed almost every year. The current roster looks like this: Rick Ross, Meek Mill, Wale, Stalley, Gunplay, Omarion, French Montana, Triple C's, Masspike Miles, Magazeen, Teedra Moses, Rockie Fresh, Fat Trel and DJ Scream. As you can see the group has a little bit of everything. Very diverse squad. Well here for the third year in a row they give us another project. Their third compilation album Self Made Vol. 3. I've had the opportunity to listen to the previous two MMG albums and I do believe 2011's Self Made Vol. 1 was the best if I had to pick. Volume two dropped last year and it kind of a bit of a downgrade from the first. Due in large part to the roster change. This time around, nothing really changed besides again, new group members. I thought this album was just as average as last years. When it comes to MMG and their albums you know you're gonna get three things: numerous trap beats, repetitive hooks and lyrics mostly about money and riches (mostly from Rick Ross). While there are catchy songs on here and songs that have huge radio hit potential, it just sounds like I'm listening to the same song over and over minus like two or three tracks. They always fail to fully diversify their sound and experiment. That's something they should consider especially if they gonna keep adding new group members every year. Well now I'll begin with the positives. First off, I really like the tribute on the intro to Lil Snupe who was murdered earlier this year. That was a good look. The stand out track for me has to be "Coupes & Roses". This was a solo track by Stalley that was very dope. It was very soulful and southern and a definite change of pace from the rest of the albums sound. Easily the best solo track of the album. This is why Stalley is a true stand out in MMG. "Black Grammys" I liked after multiple listens. Thanks mostly in large part to Rockie Fresh and J. Cole. If it wasn't for them this song wouldn't have been as listenable. I didn't like Meek Mill or Wale on this at all. In fact, those two along with Rick Ross really weren't all that great on the entire album. It was mostly the new comers that shined. Namely Rockie Fresh. He had a solo song called "God Is Great" which was the outro song. I actually found myself liking it after some listens. I also actually think Rockie Fresh is kinda cool. He's the type of rapper most people would expect me to hate but he's not that bad honestly. His flow reminds me a lot of A$AP Rocky. There were two guilty pleasure songs I had. Basically songs that in hindsight are bad songs but I can't help but like them. The first was "Bout That Life". First off I laughed at the beginning skit which was a Ric Flair promo. I'm kind of a wrestling fan so I did find that amusing despite the fact that it probably wasn't necessary to put that. The song itself had a jumpy beat and a very catchy hook that ended up getting stuck in my head for a day. The verses weren't great but it makes for a great song. The second guilty pleasure track was "Stack On My Belt" which is Rick Ross usual trunk blasting, trap beat assisted hood anthems (similar to songs like "B.M.F. (Blowin' Money Fast)" and "Hold Me Back"). The track also features Wale, Whole Slab and a poor verse from Birdman. Again, a bad song really, but the catchiness of the hook and the beat makes it kinda enjoyable for me. "What Ya Used To" again shows another shining moment for Rockie Fresh. He honestly may have stole the show on this album. This was my favorite beat and hook on the entire album. Yeah he's not lyrical but his flow and charisma stands out strong. "The Great Americans" was another Rick Ross track that featured Gunplay and Fabolous. It was also another change of pace track with a much more relaxed be and much more relaxed flows from everyone. Even Gunplay wasn't that bad here. Well there were some negatives so let's get to them. No matter how much I try to force myself, I just do not like Meek Mill's track "Levels", which is the single. The beat isn't too great and his lyrics were so poor. He focuses too much on energy (yelling) when he raps instead of saying anything that makes some sense. He honestly sounded the worst of anybody on this album. There were back to back songs for the ladies courtesy of Omarion. "Know You Better" which also features Fabolous and Pusha T and "Say Don't Go". Neither one was good. I don't know if it's because I don't really see Omarion as being that good of a singer or if it's the fact that it's still kind of weird seeing him as a member of MMG. Either way, these songs were bad. The beat for "Know You Better" was ok-ish but still that wasn't enough. The album didn't need these tracks let alone two of them. I also tried to force myself to like "Kilo" but that hook....awful. The hook is done by Louie V Gutta and he sounds like a Future impersonator, and you all know I don't like Future's voice at all. On top of that, every single verse was cringe worthy. Meek Mill, French Montana and Yo Gotti. Terrible verse from all three. Meek Mill continues to disappoint on "The Plug" with a change up in his flow that's more awkwardly fast paced. I couldn't even enjoy that song because of that. Well in closing, this is yet again another barely average project from MMG. Same beats, same hooks, same lyrics. I give it a final grade of a C. There is no denying that Maybach Music Group is on top of the mainstream world. This group and it's roster will grow and only get better as the years go on. Despite repetitive tracks, there still hits and that's what will keep them relevant in hip hop. Potentially beginning hip hop's next big record label dynasty. End.
Final Grade: C
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