Posts Tagged ‘Lil’ Wayne’

Review: Gucci Mane - Jewelry Selection Mixtape

Friday, September 10th, 2010

Gucci Mane

Need to know: Gucci Mane, the rapper behind the “Free Gucci” campaign is in all likelihood just as famed for his disregard of the law as he is for his music. From being arrested on cocaine charges, to serving six months for assault, to being charged with murder, to violating probation, Gucci Mane has warranted all the attention. Nevertheless, with each nefarious act comes another crude masterpiece in mixtape form. Beginning with his 2005 debut “Trap House”, Gucci has released a steady flow of impressive mixtapes and albums, and now that is a free man, he is likely to keep producing more.

In a 100 words or so: In the subsequent months following his release from prison in May, Gucci Mane hasn’t lived up to expectations. At last, “Jewelry Selection”, Gucci’s first post-prison success, suggests that he just had to get back into the swing of things. Teaming with DJ Holiday, the mixtape embodies Gucci’s offbeat eccentricities that constantly contrast with his tough-guy persona. The mix has a handful of gems, all of which retain the inventive and sometimes absurd lyricism that makes Gucci so appealing. Notable tracks are ‘Making Love To The Money’, ‘Trap Talk’, ‘Gross’ and ‘Cleopatra’. His Swizz Beatz-produced single ‘Gucci Time’ featuring a Justice sampling, is also set to become the single on the next album, “The Appeal: Georgia’s Most Wanted”, due September 28th. With a track like that and alleged collaborations with Nicki Minaj, Ciara and Estelle, it seems “The Appeal” will be a fine follow-up to “Jewelry Selection”.

Best track: “Block Party”

RIYL: Young Jeezy, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Cam’ron, OJ Da Juiceman

Rating: 8/10

Buy, download, steal or don’t bother: Download

Sample: “Gucci Time”

Website: http://www.guccimaneonline.com/

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Das Racist rap about Taco Bell and other social causes

Monday, July 12th, 2010

Das Racist

It’s pretty hard to take a band seriously when their hit song repeats “I’m at the combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell” throughout the entire track. But, if you dig a bit deeper, Brooklyn based rap group Das Racist is actually more than just dudes goofing off. An entertaining and sometimes provocative social commentary, their first mixtape, Shut Up, Dude, simultaneously destroys and celebrates hip hop.

Group members Himanshu Suri and Victor Vazquez released the mix-tape as a free download in March of 2010. The pair parody themselves, deconstructing aspects of rap and hip hop without being too pretentious about it. Standout tracks like “You Oughta Know” and “Fake Patois” stand on their own as good songs, despite the wisecracks.

Even so, seemingly ridiculous songs are abundant throughout. Other hits feature hard-pressing issues such as White Castle (“Rainbow in the Dark”), people eating bacon all across the nation (“Chicken and Meat”) and drinking beer (“Ek Shaneesh”). Elaborate pop culture references and jokes aside, the subject matter isn’t exactly trivial. Shut Up, Dude holds some artistic merit when you look past the Hannah Montana and Google Chat references. “Nutmeg”, for example, sounds like it could be a Lil Wayne or Jay-Z song at points. And for a little street cred, Death & Taxes magazine describe the recursive “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell” as “an existential meditation on consumer identity in corporate America.”

It’s possible that Das Racist is fooling every one. Maybe the tracks on Shut Up Dude are sharp social satire or maybe it is just plain college humor. At this point, it seems irrelevant when it sounds this good. Shut Up Dude has got catchy and memorable rhymes and danceable beats, and that’s enough for me.

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Earworm: Lil’ Wayne “No Ceilings”

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

weezymain

Who: Lil’ Wayne

Sounds like: One of the self-proclaimed best rappers alive (the other being Jay-Z) doing what he does best - going off, stream of consciousness-style, over a series of instrumentals from popular hip-hop tracks. For some reason, the blisteringly absurd lyricism he brings to these projects is often absent from his commercial releases, with a few exceptions, i.e. “A Milli.”

RIYL: Any of Lil’ Wayne’s other mixtapes, especially Dedication 3 and Da Drought 3.

Need to know: No Ceilings is probably the last official mixtape Weezy will put out for some time. The rapper is almost definitely bound for prison for about a year after pleading guilty to weapons possession. Fortunately, it seems like he put his all into it, spitting his unique brand of lyrical idiocy (”I’m on some s*** and ain’t even came out the a** yet”) over the beats from “D.O.A.,” “I Gotta Feeling,” “Poker Face,” “Run This Town” and “Sweet Dreams” by Beyonce. Often the tracks begin with the sound of a flicking lighter. Really, Weezy is best when he’s in this mode. With his albums, there’s an obligation to water things down with R&B hooks and keep the lyrics basic. His upcoming Rebirth album is an auto-tune/rock crossover attempt that sounds bad on paper and worse on record - even his die-hard fans were confused by the atrocious “Prom Queen.”

Track: “No Ceilings” is a track produced by Cool & Dre that could have been a big hit single, but Lil’ Wayne just gives it away for free, suggesting that he’s got a limitless supply of music of this calibre. The impassioned song combines wailing soul with hard-hitting 808 drums, in the vein of “International Player’s Anthem” by UGK featuring OutKast. Wayne kills the track with crazy lines like: “Young Weezy F., the ‘F’ is not for “failing” / Swagger just dumb, call it Sarah Palin / If you n***** fly then I must be parasailing / We are not the same, I’m a motherf****** alien!” Unfortunately, the song features Wayne’s “daddy,” Baby, who takes things from a 10 to about a 6 when he gets on the mic, but fortunately his verse is brief.

Buy: Download the whole album here for the price of $0.00.

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