Los - Becoming King MIXTAPE REVIEW

History has shown, since the 90's, a deal with Bad Boy could guarantee you a 90% chance at stardom. Courtesy of Diddy, the list of  notable names that caught a glimpse of stardom are endless. Most notably Biggie. Then there's Craig Mack, Faith Evans, Mase, The LOX, Black Rob, G. Dep, Yung Joc, Cassie and so on. Most recently the signing of French Montana and Machine Gun Kelly have made them popular names as well. Well the next Bad Boy artist up that may catch that same glimpse of stardom is Los. As a native of Baltimore myself, it was only right that I review this latest project from Los who of course is from Baltimore as well. So yeah, there might be a bit of hometown bias in this review. Now this is my first time hearing a full project from him. Before it was just some freestyles and a few featured verses that I heard. Becoming King for the most part is pretty decent. One of my biggest fears for a Baltimore rapper that finally made it big was if their music would stick to the stereotype that's labeled with the city. That's being a crime infested, drug ridden, and overall dangerous city which is largely depicted in the popular show The Wire. Fortunately, Los doesn't do that. However, he does stick to today's popular and very typical mainstream sound. Which isn't really bad because it will get him over with listeners. The production was pretty good to say the least. Majority of the beats are all mainstream sounding as I stated before. Which again isn't bad considering he has a major deal so that sound is gonna be there. Lyrically he's average. There's are times where I was impressed and there were times where I wasn't. He has delivery and charisma but his flow and lyrics sound like a bunch of other rappers on a number of songs on this tape. There's nothing really unique about his voice or lyrics. Well here's the songs that stood out for me. The second track "Sky Is The Limit" was pretty dope. He channels his inner Biggie here by using the same sample and hook from Biggie's 1997 hit of the same name. I'm willing to bet Diddy had something to do with that. I think overall my favorite song was definitely "Pay Up". It was a hook-less song and the most lyrically dope song on the whole tape. One for the play list for sure. "Disappointed" was cool and funny at the same time. The humor comes from the hook provided by Diddy. I always laugh whenever Diddy raps with that cocky, arrogant "I-have-this-and-you-don't" attitude. But that's just who Puff is. Despite a very poor guest verse from Ludacris the song overall was cool. "Dope" features Pusha T and Yo Gotti and is a definite trunk banger for the whip. This should certainly be a favorite for many. "Burn Slow" was okay but man I thought I would never see the day where it would sound like Wiz Khalifa out-did someone on their own song but it happened. Not saying Los was bad on it but Wiz brought more energy to the track. Speaking of Wiz, he's also featured on the track "Weak" which also features Cassie as well. After a few listens the beat for this grew on me and now I like it. Another trunk banger as well. "Nightmares Of Being Broke" is the most relaxed song on the tape. It's a huge change of pace from the rest of the tracks but a pretty good song nonetheless. Now here are my negatives. I mentioned before Los mixes his flow up a lot and it sounds like various other artists. On "My Biz" he sounds like a combination of Wale and Big Sean (especially towards the end when he's kinda "rap-talking" over the beat). In fact he sounds like Big Sean on majority of the songs on this tape ("O.D." was another example of one). The song was okay but the flow is what made me have a dislike for it somewhat. He samples LL Cool J's classic hit "Doin' It" for the track "Doing You Well". It's on this track where he delivers a J. Cole-like flow for the ladies. Didn't like that too much but the sample was okay. Now I did mention that I did like "Dope" but he had a A$AP Rocky-like flow on that which I didn't like after first listen. It gets better. On "Why You Mad" he gets his Future on with the auto-tune. It sounds like a very poor attempt at a radio/club hit. Even on this he used Big Sean's ad-libs ("hold up", "roll up" etc.). The auto-tune madness continues on "Hard Life" where it sounds like he's literally trying to sing. Bad idea. The parts where he was rapping he sounded like Wale again. Although sounding a bit like Wale I could probably live with because it just might be both of their Maryland/DC accents that sound the same. Well in conclusion, this mixtape was just decent. The pros and cons were 50/50. I enjoyed the production the most if anything. I give it a final grade of a C+. I like Los. I'm happy to see him put my city on the map and I'll continue to support him. I think he has the sound, charisma and overall talent to make it big. I just feel like he may need to find a identity with his flow and lyrics because it sounds like he's jacking flows from everybody and that's not good. He's gonna have to grow out of that if he really wants to "become king". End.

Final Grade: C+

Kid Cudi - Indicud ALBUM REVIEW

Strange. Weird. Bizarre. Just a few words many use to describe the kind of alternative music Kid Cudi makes. I'll admit, it took me a while to catch on. I wasn't all that "wowed" with "Day-N-Nite" like most folks were. It had to grow on me. But once I heard his 2009 debut album Man On The Moon: The End Of Day, I could immediately see why he has such a strong following of supporters. His style of hip hop is so far left from everything else you hear today. He's able to blend so many different sounds and genre's like rap, R&B, pop, rock, funk, techno, jazz etc. It's because of this that I sometimes like to label him as a "genre-less" artist. Meaning his music is that unique that it's sound like a whole new undiscovered genre. This in short is what drew me more into following his music. Thus, anticipating this. His third album Indicud. First off I want to address the interesting album title which I believe represents what majority of folks might categorize this album as. Alternative indie hip hop. The title is basically two words: Indie and Cudi. Together making Indicud. Pretty cool. Now by far my favorite project from him was his 2010 sophomore effort Man On The Moon II: The Legend Of Mr. Rager. I myself believed his raised the bar quite high for himself after that one which had me wondering if Indicud would even be half as good as that. Honestly, I didn't gravitate towards this as quick as I did to the second album but this album was definitely a good project. It basically has every I would expect from a Kid Cudi album. The a fore mentioned genre blending, that dreary, zoned out and "acid trippy" sounding music. The kind of sound that stoners love as most people describe it. All production was good but not great like the last two albums. Nothing sounded too mainstream however. Not even the singles. For somebody like him that's a plus. Lyrics were good as well. Lyrically, Cudi has a way of story telling through these eerie sounding songs that paints vivid murals in your mind. This is a talent a lot of these new MC's lack lyrically and quite frankly is why I like Kid Cudi. Now on to what I liked about the album. I loved what was done with the intro ("The Resurrection Of Scott Mescudi"), the middle interlude ("New York City Rage Fest"), and the outro ("The Flight Of The Moon Man"). All three are eerie and "spacey" sounding instrumental interludes that takes you away to this world that he is in exploring all of these thoughts of his. Sets the tone perfectly. There were two songs where I couldn't decide which is my favorite of the album between the two. The first was "Cold Blooded". This had more of a up tempo dancy kind of beat but I enjoyed it a lot. Even his R&B-ish hook. It reminds me of the the two singles "Make Her Say" and "Erase Me" from his previous two albums. The other was "Brothers". The song just simply talks about his homies (his "brothers") and the trust he has for them. A$AP Rocky and King Chip deliver two good guest verses too. He delivers some more R&B flavor on "Immortal" where he's keeps describing himself as this being with super powers. In other words him being "immortal". Nice song. Though it wasn't as good as part 1 from the first album, "Solo Dolo Pt. II" was still pretty cool. I loved the much more faster paced beat which fits perfectly for the well delivered guest verse from Kendrick Lamar. After a couple of listens I found myself liking "Red Eye". The hook was done wonderfully by Haim and sounds like it could do well on the crossover pop/hip hop charts. "Unfuckwittable" speaks for itself. Right now no one can touch Cudi in this style of music and that's pretty much what he's boasting about when it comes to the title. He goes on to speak about his main goal which is to spread positivity out of negativity. Great song. I loved his dope and aggressive lyricism on "Lord Of The Sad And Lonely". The aggression may be a result of his sadness and loneliness. I had to listen to "Young Lady" a few times before grasping the concept. It was a great song about him describing the perfect woman but how us (men) are a bit intimidated to tell her how we feel for whatever reason. It goes further than that but I'll keep it brief. My negatives about this are minor. "Beez" was actually a good song. I liked it. But my issue with it is the fact it's more of The RZA and less of  Cudi. To where it sounds more like The RZA featuring Kid Cudi instead of the other way around. I would have love to hear Cudi spit some lyrics on that great beat instead of being on the hook. I'm on the fence about "Afterwards (Bring Yo Friends)". It's a nine minute track that sounds like a two in one. The first part of it has a up tempo almost 90's sounding beat with fantastic vocals from Michael Bolton. The second part of it is where I was scratching my head as it got slower and more dreary as the beat changed. I would have been fine if the whole song was just the first part but that second part threw everything off for me. The whole thing will have to grow on me though. Well overall, I am very pleased with this album. I still place Man On The Moon II as my favorite from Kid Cudi but there is no doubt that this is up there too. I give this a final grade of a strong B-. While I do like the fact that Kid Cudi wanted to be more independent in making this album and producing the entire thing himself, that may have not been the best idea. Otherwise this would have been on par with the first two projects. The beats were okay don't get me wrong, just not as good as I was hoping. With this new genre that Kid Cudi is discovering, there is no way he will fade away anytime soon. Now I look forward to him landing back on the moon on the next album. End.

Final Grade: B-

Cassie - Rocka Bye Baby MIXTAPE REVIEW

It's quite clear to see that times in hip hop and R&B have certainly changed. Now the mixtape game no longer belongs to just rappers. In the past few years, R&B singers have jumped in and took over. Chris Brown, Trey Songz, Keri Hilson and Teairra Mari to name a few, have all released their own. Well now it's Cassie's turn. Cassie has went through quite the transformation over the years musically. Many of us can still remember her debuting in 2006 with that hit record "Me & You" like it happened yesterday. Back then she was just a cute, innocent, soft voiced, 20 year old girl next door type of chick. Now at age 26, she has a whole new sassy attitude and swagger in which this, her debut mixtape Rocka Bye Baby, proves very well. Now she hasn't dropped a project since her self titled debut album seven years ago so I kinda wondered would she sound a little rusty on here seeing as how she hasn't put out any music in so long. But to be honest she still sounds the same and she doesn't sound like she missed a beat. For the most part I thought this tape was just decent. Not good, not bad, just decent. Now obviously, Cassie isn't the best singer in the world, but the sound that she gives on this album I think fits her style of R&B the most. She's not like a Beyonce' who could project her voice loudly and hit high notes, let alone perform doing that. She has a very soft and low toned voice which is perfect for the sound this mixtape generates. On this tape she adds to that soft voice a very dark and seductive like attitude. Which goes along with the theme and again fits her because she has tons of sex appeal. So I'll start with the pros first. The overall production was good and I believe is what made this tape listenable. Of course with the exception of the two beats she jacked (Kendrick Lamar's "m.A.A.d City" and Tyga's "Do My Dance"). Throughout the tape she has a few skits, including the intro, from the classic film New Jack City, which obviously goes with the mixtapes title and theme. I thought she used them well and placed them all at perfect moments on the tape. "Take Care Of Me Baby" was probably my favorite of the tape if I had to pick. A dope heavy bassed beat that could bump in the whip. Plus a dope verse from Pusha T who was definitely the best feature on this mixtape. The two singles "Numb" which features Rick Ross and "Paradise" which features Wiz Khalifa were both pretty cool. Two more "bump-in-the-whip" type songs and neither feature didn't over do it (thank God on Wiz's part). "Turn Up" is not only a whip song but I could definitely see the clubs loving this one despite that it's a short song. It's everyones favorite saying now in hip hop and is produced by Young Chop, the man responsible for majority of Chief Keef's hits. Meek Mill's verse wasn't that bad either. "Sound Of Love" features Jeremih and is the only song on here that sounds like legit R&B. It doesn't sound like the rest of the tape at all. It's a okay song. I think females would like it more. Now on to the cons. There were two songs on here where she tries to flex her rap skills, or lack there of. "Rocka Bye Baby" was the first. Honestly the overall sound wasn't THAT bad but this will surely has to grow on me. Still something is missing from it that I can't put my finger on. The other is "Bad Bitches". Personally I'm not a fan of the term "bad bitch" and on this not only does she deliver a poor rap effort but does it in an aggressive way. However the chant on the hook I could so see females who claim to be that chanting along with it in the club. In short, she's a better singer than a rapper. She actually sounds a bit like Lola Monroe rapping but with a little less talent. "I Know What You Want" is the track she samples Kendrick Lamar's beat. I love that beat even when I heard it on Kendrick's album but it doesn't sound right meshed with R&B vocals. Really it sounds like a DJ just blending vocals from one song to the beat of another. Speaking of, her other beat jacking victim like I mentioned was Tyga on the track "Do My Dance". Same beat and title. What's weird about it is considering the content of the original song, the male in me was hoping she would get all sexually explicit too but she really didn't. She was clean on here. Needless to say I was disappointed. However, Too $hort to no surprise stuck to the content. I wasn't really feeling "I Love It" at all either. Mostly because Fabolous delivered one of his worst guest verses ever. I hated his flow on here. He sounded too much like A$AP Rocky. That bothered me a lot. Overall like I stated before, this mixtape is just decent. I could definitely see females liking it because majority of these songs they would relate to. Males I don't know. Might have to grow on y'all like it has to with me. However I do believe that this sound fits her and that she should stay in this lane. She's not really a R&B singer but more of what I like to call a "hip hop songstress". I give it a final grade of a C. I know most men, including myself, only like Cassie because of her gorgeous looks and not her music. Also others believe she's better at other things like modeling and acting. Let's not forget music is the reason she has some level of fame in the first place. That's where it began for her. Let's just hope when she drops the album later this year that's it's a few steps above this. End.

Final Grade: C

Joe Budden - No Love Lost ALBUM REVIEW

(NOTE: Yes, this album released a little over a  month ago and I'm very late posting this review. I had the review written already then but never got to post it anywhere. So here it is.)

Joe Budden has certainly come a long way from his "Pump It Up" days in 2003. Many of his days and/or years in between was spent on the underground scene dropping numerous mixtapes and a one album. Today he is now a member of the lyrical super group Slaughterhouse and has a deal with Eminem's Shady 2.0 label. This year makes ten years since he debuted in the game, it was only right, after all the mixtapes for him to come with a new studio album to celebrate his ten year anniversary (even though that's probably not what he's really doing). Here we have No Love Lost. His third album. It's hard to really compare this to his two previous albums cause for one they came out so far apart ("Joe Budden" in 2003 and Padded Room in 2009) and also he's changed a lot since. So I won't do that. A lot of that change he speaks of on this album. This album for me seemed very...well...moody. As in the mood keeps changing drastically as the album goes on. Now when I first looked at the track list I'll admit I got worried. I saw features like Wiz Khalifa, French Montana, Lil Wayne, Kirko Bangz, Juicy J etc. I was praying this would not sound like a desperate mainstream attempt like last year's Slaughterhouse album was. Turns out it wasn't that bad. But here's what I meant by moody. The first 3 tracks, "Top Of The World", the single "She Don't Put It Down" and "NBA" are all radio friendly. I want to believe he put these songs first just to get them out the way to get to the good shit. Right after these tracks things start to get serious. "You And I" sounds like somewhat of a romantic message to some girl. I think it might be Tahiry but I don't know this nigga fucks around with a lot of females. After that is when starts reflecting on his life and mostly his career. "All In My Head", which was also featured on his mixtape Loose Quarter, and "Skeletons" talk about it the most. Two of my favorite songs on the album. On "All In My Head" both Joe and Royce Da 5'9" make mentions of "skeletons in the closet" which then leads to the great transition from that song to the song "Skeletons" with no break in between. Then the next part of the album he starts switching gears towards the ladies. "Switch Positions" I actually do like. Especially the hilarious "Role Play" interlude right before it. I miss when rappers used to do those funny sex related skits. Then "Tell Him Somethin" is another slow jam where Joe is trying to tell the girl to tell her man why he's better and what he's doing for her etc. Don't really like that much because of that topic and the fact that its long as hell for no damn reason. Like seven minutes. A lot of the songs I disliked came towards then end like "Runaway" and "My Time". Probably the two most boring songs on the whole album. "Last Day" to some is a good bump-in-the-whip song because of the beat but ehh...didn't feel it that much. Lloyd Banks sounds weird rapping fast. I guess that one will have to grow on me. The overall production was a little weak for me. Could have been better and more energetic. Lyrics obviously were good. That's what he does best. Overall though, This album was decent at best. I think he has mixtapes better than this. If you a fan his you might be slightly disappointed with certain tracks on here but the rest you might like. If your not a fan, just download it, give it a listen and delete it if don't like it. I give it a final grade of a C. I like Joe Budden, but after hearing this, I think I'm more looking forward to his next mixtape than his next album. End.

Final Grade: C

Big K.R.I.T. - King Remembered In Time MIXTAPE REVIEW

Fact: Today, the south is hip hop's most dominate region and has been for at least the last decade. Some of hip hop's biggest names in mainstream all hail from below the Mason Dixon. But because southern rap today is mostly known for radio/party/club music, it's really hard to point out the top tier MC's of the south on a more lyrical level. Recently a lot of southern new comers have emerged and become apart of that tier. Example: Big K.R.I.T. Once I listened to his 2011 mixtape Return Of 4Eva, I was extremely impressed and was immediately hooked. That would be followed by his two 2012 releases in the mixtape 4Eva N A Day and his debut studio album Live From The Underground. Both of which I enjoyed. In short, K.R.I.T. has yet to disappoint me with a mixtape/album and it continues here with King Remembered In Time. I thoroughly enjoyed this mixtape. Just like on 4Eva N A Day he shows his creative originality and gives us another themed and/or concept project with the "king" and "royalty" theme. Which is presented on a couple of tracks. In the production department, K.R.I.T. once again doesn't disappoint as he continues with his soulful and jazz influenced production with a little bit of that southern trunk music flavor. Showing that he's just as talented of a producer as he is a MC. Since I have way more positives than negatives to say about this I'll start there. I had so many favorite songs on this tape that it's hard for me to like one more than the others. I absolutely loved the bass in "Talkin' Bout Nothing". He spit some fast dope lyrics over deep and heavy vibrating bass. Prefect trunk music. Speaking of, "My Trunk" is another bass bumper that many would love to blast in the car. Even though Trinidad James verse was weak it wasn't enough to ruin the song. "King Without A Crown" is one of those that I mentioned that sticks to the theme. Another favorite of mine. "Shine On" with Bun B and "How U Love That" were two more dope trunk bangers. But I'ma step away from the trunk bangers and get to the songs with meaning. "WTF" totally caught me off guard. Looking at the title I thought this song would be about something completely left field from what K.R.I.T. normally raps about, but on here he raps about the life struggle in Mississippi and flows in a poetic style. Like those poets that do stage poetry. Done over a cool, relaxed, violin filled bass-less beat (until the hook). The song features a decent collabo from BJ The Chicago Kid. Great song. "Banana Clip Theory" he speaks on why he feels it's necessary for him to posses a weapon. This may be in response to the whole gun control situation that the country is going through right now. Either way it was great. "Life Is A Gamble" is pretty much self explanatory looking at the title. The ups and downs and dangers you'll come across in life. The last two tracks "Bigger Picture" and "Multi Til The Sun Die" are other examples of these meaningful songs that K.R.I.T. knows how to make so well. An area of weakness for most southern rappers. I only have a few negatives about the tape. "Good 2Getha" I wasn't feeling like that. If there's one weakness K.R.I.T. has is songs for the women, which really isn't bad because plenty of rappers have this problem. There's an interlude or a snippet on here called "Just Last Week" which features Future that left me scratching my head. It sounded good by why just a snippet? I didn't like that. Even Future was tolerable on this. Maybe the full song will be on one of his future projects. I hope. "Only One" features Wiz Khalifa and Smoke DZA and this is one I'm on the fence about. After my first listen I thought it was okay then after a second time I lost interest. I don't really know what it is but I guess it will have to grow on me. Well in conclusion, this was yet again another dope project from Big K.R.I.T. I give it a final grade of a B. In my opinion. Big K.R.I.T. embodies and defines everything that southern hip hop is, or should be. As long as he continues to release great mixtapes/albums like this then I can't ever see myself getting off the band wagon. He'll only get better as the years go on. Hopefully, this could be the turning point for a new sound in the south. I'll cross my fingers. End.

Final Grade: B