loosie: words: Mixtape Review

Mixtape Review

Clue's "I'm a Show You How to Do This (Part One).

by Don Knutts | 2002.10.19

Clumsy title aside, it’s a decent tape.

Here’s a rundown:

ROC-A-FELLA INTRO – Jay-Z, Freeway, Bleek, Geda K, Young Chris: This is the Roc response to Jaz-O, over Styles’ “I Get High” beat. After Jay drops a quick four-bar intro, the rest of the crew chimes in with a few tidy verses. Of the Roc understudies, Geda K and Young Chris have been most impressive lately. Geda: “My freestyle’s got more buzz than your album/It’s my time, yours was in the 80’s, stop wilin’.” Jay-Z’s adlibs at the end kill me – “Jaz, this is really not you. You got these mixtape n’ggas, they all snitches, they usin’ you. They got you dry snitchin’ on records. That’s not cool, homey. That’s not you. Jaz-O. Jaz-O, Jaz-O. Jaz-O album is in stores, Jaz video is currently playing BET. Alright. You happy?” Jay has a point: mixtape DJ’s -- more than the “streets,” more than the media, more than the artists themselves -- are most responsible for propagating these beefs on wax. Kay Slay benefits from a war of words more than anybody else.

FREESTYLE – Foxy Brown: Fox Boogie’s rebirth continues. Here she takes Jaz’s “Foundation” beat and spits her usual mix of braggadocio and “try to guess who I’m talking about” pseudo-disses. Those opening ad-libs sound a tad familiar: “This is Brooklyn’s official representer, your girl Young Fox .. your girl is bi-zack.” Also, notice the subtle lilt in her rhymes: a tad whiny, a bit Freeway-esque.

DESERT STORM FREESTYLE – Fabolous, Paul Cain & Joe Budden: Over the infamous “Grindin’” beat. F-a-b-o shines, while the other two MC’s come off bland. Buddens seems to be running out of punchlines. Still, the beat is like some plump, natural titties; it can make anyone look decent.

STYLIN’ (remix) – Foxy Brown feat. Baby, Nore, Loon & Young Gav: Outside of Gavin’s weak verse (nepotism alert), the song works pretty well. Same beat with an added hook. Baby and Loon are nice on this one, but Nore makes it happen with more classic non-sequiturs: “Still n’ggas doubt my name/I move slow like Ozzy Osbourne with a cane/Ghetto tabernacle/Still buckin’ at your Adam’s apple/All I do is get high and drink Snapple.” At least three gratuitous references to Louis XIII (Remy Martin), which is the cognac for the summer, I guess. Just $1,500 per bottle. Pass the what?

OH BOY (remix) OH GIRL – Cam’ron feat. Cash Money, TQ, & Jimmy Jones: A bad idea, very poorly executed. As you may imagine, it’s a redux of “Oh Boy,” ‘cept instead of the “oh boy” Mary J. sample, it’s crooner TQ singing “oh girl” as the rappers talk about women. Man, this is bad. Are remixes always necessary? I guess A&R’s can’t leave a hit well enough alone. One interesting note: another song featuring a NYC-Cash Money collabo.

FREE – Freeway: Another Just Blaze production, another sped-up vocal sample – this time, it’s just the word “free.” Beat starts slowly with sparse drums as piano gradually filters in beneath Free’s vocals. Kind of an introduction type song, so I’m guessing it may be Free’s official jump-off single. Nice song, but it’s no “Line Em Up.”

TRADE IT ALL (remix) – Fabolous feat. P. Diddy & Jagged Edge: Guess this is Fabolous’s next single. He spits some new verses over the same beat, then P. Diddy does some more “I Need A Girl”-type pleading. Nothing much to say here.

BIG BUSINESS – Swizz Beats feat. Jadakiss & Ron Isley: I’m not mad at Swizz this year. He’s coming with some interesting material, and this is the latest. Nice bouncy track and good performances from both Jada and Mr. Biggs. Beat reminds me somewhat of the music from the underground level on Super Mario Bros. Jada: “Not only am I real, I think/But I still jab a n’gga with the left and won’t spill my drink.”

CRUNCH TIME – Flipmode: Is anybody eager to cop Flipmode’s new album? They might be one of the biggest “who cares” rap posses ever. When Spliff Star is the first MC on your song, your song needs help. Sounds like a summer of ’99 type cut, and that’s not a compliment.

Y’ALL KNOW WE IN HERE – Styles P: The most uptempo of the new Styles’ songs I’ve heard thus far – definitely sounds a Swizz track. “Next time I go to jail/I ain’t getting the bail/I’mma kill a hundred n’ggas/Right in front of n’ggas/When cops come through/They gettin’ it to/Going out with a bang/Bout to start up a gang, cocksucker.” Drag-on provides the hook. It’s about three straight minutes of angry, uninteresting threats.

YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS – Eve feat. Truth Hurts: This must be Eve’s teaser for her new album. Song is produced by Dr. Dre, but it’s not one of his nicer tracks. She shoulda requested the beat from his Coors commercial. This track sounds like it may have taken less than 10 minutes to put together. Truth Hurts sings the chorus. Eve sounds pretty hungry though.

O.G. – Murder Inc. feat. Blackchild: Murder Inc. drops a rare non-love rap song, allowing one of their B-team rhymers some studio time. Of course, there’s still an R&B hook. The song itself isn’t bad, just mediocre. Blackchild is kinda nice with his though. By the way, what happened to Cadillac Tah’s come-up?

WANGSTER – 50 Cent: I saw an “official bootleg” for 50 Cent’s new LP. Can’t remember if this song is on it, but it’s about what you might expect from 50 – nonchalant thugging in that sing-songy type flow, his voice rising and falling with the beat. Basically, 50’s well-publicized history of jail bids and gunshot wounds give him the license to say whatever the hell he wants.

FREESTYLE – 50 Cent: No MC takes his mixtape freestyles as seriously as 50. He actually makes hooks and intros. This one’s over the KRS-One “Ovah” beat.

FREESTYLE – Loon: I think Clue got this from Hot 97. I don’t recognize the beat, but it’s string heavy. P. Diddy sounds a bit too excited ad-libbing in the background. Nothing memorable.

ALONE IN THIS WORLD – Faith feat. Jay-Z: Two Biggie dickriders on the same track! No, I’m playin. But fittingly enough, the song recycles the “Who Shot Ya” beat. Jigga does his jigga thing.

RAINY DAYS (remix) – Mary J. Blige feat. Ja Rule: Never much liked the original, but I like the new beat – could be Dre, but not sure. Mary takes it back to “411” and drops her own rhyme after Ja’s. Nice touch.

THERE’S NO ME – Murder Inc. feat. Ashanti & Cadillac Tah: Ah, this is the Murder Inc. we all know and (most of you) hate. It’s really Ashanti’s song with Tah playing the part of Ja. I don’t mind this at all, actually. Just radio filler, but inoffensive.

JUST CHILL – Flipmode: My sentiments exactly. Just chill. Rampage drops the opening verse where he curiously spits “50 grand on Mosley, 50 grand on Zab Judah/I’m out in Vegas at the MGM Grand … ” Somebody tell Rampage that Mosley and Judah both lost. Rah Digga would do well to lose her clique. There’s a lot of dead weight in there.

DON’T WANT NONE – Hoodfellaz: Who is Hoodfellaz? Not sure, but they sound like some thugged out teenagers. I’m not mad at this beat though, with the crazy strings sounding like a bizarro “Benjamins.” If it was a demo tape, I’d listen to it twice. Note: most overused thug MC phrase: “Yall dudes.” Yall dudes this, yall dudes that. Yall dudes this, Yall dudes that. Yawn.

THIS IS MY LIFE – Remy Martin: Hey, it’s a sped-up vocal sample! Imagine that. Let me ask you -- do you believe Remy? “Reminiscing, thinking of the stores I stuck/And all the robberies and memories of doors I bucked/All the shooters that I shot at and the bullets I ducked …” Either she’s one of the most thugged out women of all time, or somebody’s ghost-writing her history. Regardless, the song sucks.

IT’S OBVIOUS – Rell feat. Jay-Z: Jigga must be getting bored, b/c I’m not used to hearing him on all these R&B cuts. Song sounds like a Timbaland imitation, but then again it could be Tim’s work. If Rell’s ever gonna have a hit, then this is it. I bet $20 that Static wrote it.

DANGEROUS – Knoc’turnal feat. Xzibit, Warren G & Nate Dogg: The lone non-NYC song on the tape features Knoc and crew on what has to be a Dre beat. Nothing special, but not bad. I like Knoc’s flow – delivery-wise, he sounds like a combination of Snoop, Eminem and Suga Free. I just read that Knoc's LP has been scrapped. Tough luck for him.

MY NECK, MY BACK (remix) – Khia feat. Memphis Bleek: This is an obvious “jackin for beats” unofficial remix, but I’m sure it’ll get a lot of play in NY clubs. After the ladies pantomime Khia’s part, the dudes can lip-sync Bleek’s verse. “My b’tch, my coupe/Any b’tch that roll with me, you know the head be the truth … I love them girls that’s out for the cheese, ‘cause/It’s all fun ‘til you skeet in their weave.” Bleek’s verse is about twice as vulgar as Khia’s.