Best (Mixtapes) I Ever Had
3:13 Apr 28th, 2013 | 0 notes
So, as promised, here are my next 3 best Hip-Hop mixtapes of the late noughties.
18. MeLo-X - More Merch (2010)
‘More Merch’ was MeLo-X’s 5th mixtape as a vocalist/rapper, and, in my view, his best to date. He showcases a great deal of creativity and skill in crafting different sounds, building on his chillwave/trip-hop/neo-soul sound from ‘Audio Foreplay’.
This tape holds a spot at number 17 for it’s coherent sound as a mixtape - from track to track the vibe is consistent, taking the listener on a journey. Again, I feel it could definitely have been sold as an EP in iTunes in the very least, if MeLo really wanted to. But it certainly works beautifully as a mixtape.
MeLo-X also covers, remixes and mashes up songs by Quadron, Jade and Erykah Badu to name but a few, spitting a few of his own verses over them and adding his own musical arrangements, making them his own. His ‘Indie Hip-Hop’ style of music is unique to him, and a sound I haven’t heard outside of the UK Bass scene. It is exciting to hear this kind of experimenting with genres and as MeLo makes more and more music, I find his signature sound develops a genre of its own.
17. The Weeknd - Thursday [as part of the Trilogy] (2011)
At this point, feel free to substitute ‘Thursday’ with either of the other two mixtapes (Echoes of Silence and House of Balloons) he released at this time - ‘Thursday’ happens to be the first one of his I heard for a while, so my impression of his sound is biased towards it.
The reason why The Weeknd is here, is, again, because of the uniqueness of his sound. All of his songs sound somewhat dazed and ‘under the influence’ (some call it ‘dark wave’), and combined with his lamenting vocals, they prove for quite an experience. It’s almost as if The Weeknd passes you a cup of ‘sizzerp’ himself at the start of track 1.
Many people have said different things about The Weeknd’s voice, be it ‘lamenting’, ‘cry-wanking’, ‘the best musical talent since Michael Jackson’ (I’ll discredit that one because that is absolutely ridiculous I’m sorry. What makes it worse is that MTV’s John Norris said it.)…. or that it’s just ‘inherently sexual’ which I must say I agree with. Whether they like it or not, The Weeknd has grabbed people’s attention. Definitely a set of mixtapes to have in your collection even if you only end up listening to it once (which is pretty unlikely).
(EDIT: Grooveshark is playing up, so it’ll be Youtube links for a few posts)
16. Domo Genesis - Rolling Papers (2010)
When I first downloaded ‘Rolling Papers’ from the Odd Future website, I was skeptical about how good it would be, thinking Domo was just the crew’s token stoner rapper. While I may not have been 100% wrong, I must admit that ‘Rolling Papers’ was somewhat of a dark horse. Domo Genesis doesn’t pretend to be something he’s not, and in using these relaxed and low-budget sounding beats, the mixtape holds a strange charm.
‘Supermarket’ and ‘Rolling Papers’ are both popular tracks from the tape, the former being a rap battle between Tyler, the Creator and Domo in a supermarket, the later being, obviously, the title track, with one of Tyler’s better early beats.
My favourite on the tape is ‘Drunk’. I first heard it playing in the background of one of the many clips Odd Future have of their antics over on YouTube. It’s quintessentially them. It fits their strange, homemade, ‘gang of crazy kids’ style perfectly.
“Odd Future, I’ll shoot ya, die slow”
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Remember, there’ll be more to come soon!
Best (Mixtapes) I Ever Had
8:10 Apr 27th, 2013 | 0 notes
Well, it’s been almost a year since I promised to do my Best (Mixtapes) Ever etc countdown, but better late than never! Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), in the time that’s passed between me making my Honourable Mentions list and now, a bunch more awesome mixtapes have come out, and I’ve had more time to consider my list and re-discover some old greats. This means, although I’ll still have a top 10, there’s gonna be a top 21 too.
Without further ado, I present the bottom 3 (not as bad as it sounds, there IS some tough competition)
21. Odd Future - Radical (2010)
Odd Future got big around 2009-2010, and I remember the first time I saw Tyler, The Creator’s ‘Yonkers’ video I rushed to download the entire Odd Future back catalogue. Some tapes shone brighter than others, but the one that best represented the whole crew was definitely ‘Radical’.
This tape has tracks by Mike G, Earl Sweatshirt, Hodgy Beats etc, so basically the whole crew, and features raps over popular instrumentals like Gucci Mane’s ‘Lemonade’ and Roscoe Dash’s ‘All The Way Turnt Up’ - much like most of the more mainstream hip-hop mixtapes you’d find online at that time - but obviously done in Odd Future’s own creepy style, with plenty of disturbing lines, and with some of the instrumentals pitched down (to sound weirder, no doubt). As Earl Sweatshirt brags “I know everyone has their f*cking version of this but.. no one did it justice”
As per usual, they seem to be poking fun at mainstream Hip-Hop, or accentuating their differences from the mainstream, in the very least - which is no bad thing. Being different works, especially for the Wolf Gang/Golf Wang/Flog Gnaw guys.
20. Mac Miller - K.I.D.S (2010)
Aside from looking like your average high-school ‘lad’ (or ‘dude about town’, whatever they call it over in America), Mac happens to be a very handy rapper. Starting with a sound that may not have been the most original, Mac has been putting out mixtapes (also an album) of consistent quality for the past 3-4 years, building a buzz around his name and honing his skills and sound. Some even had that coherent style that many music bloggers say Hip-Hop albums lack these days, because of a tendency to recruit multiple producers for one project. This does not seem to be a problem for Mac Miller, however.
K.I.D.S has a very chilled out and relaxed “Boom Bap rap” vibe, which Mac seems to have found works best with his voice and lyrical themes, and I’m not complaining. From beginning to end the beats stay “bumping” without being repetitive. It works. Maybe that’s why Lord Finesse wanted to sue Mac Miller for royalties on one of the tracks.
(and of course the taster track is ‘Good Evening’. I’ve used it in about 5 different mixes I recorded this year. Why not? :D)
19. J. Cole - The Warm Up (2009)
No real surprise here, J. Cole’s 2nd official mixtape, one of his best, sits at number 19 of this list (maybe a little closer to the bottom than it should be, sorry man).
J. Cole is THE rap storyteller of the late noughties, with real life tales and relatable stories of personal struggle and ambition delivered over beats that pay homage to Hip-Hop greats such as Kanye West and Notorious B.I.G. The music on this tape is full of emotion, with all of that classic 2Pac and early Jay-Z (‘Real Hip-Hop’) sound, and none of the superficial ‘bottle-poppin’ music that has characterised mainstream Hip-Hop since the late 90s.
Though from here on out J. Cole’s sound does get bigger and better, I feel it’s important to mark out where exactly he began to make the music for “the big leagues”, which is in my opinion, on this mixtape. Well worth the download. As with a lot of the top mixtapes on this list, I have listened to this one all the way through countless times, and I truly feel this could stand up as an EP if not an album.
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And there you have it. More to come in a few days.
So Action Bronson retweeted the kid PokeyStix (meeee) and somebody replied suggesting this become a new mixtape title. If it does… you know…. it came from me hahaaaa
Joey Bada$$ - Wendy & Becky
6:23 Feb 26th, 2013 | 0 notesI rate this song loooooadsss simply because I rate Joey. He’s the future. Boom.
Best (Mixtapes) I Ever Had - Honourable Mentions
3:27 Sep 6th, 2012 | 1 note
I figured I’d get these out of the way first… the mixtapes that didn’t make it on to the list for whatever reason, but are still pretty dope… go cop them if you’re reading this. You’ll notice that most of these mixtapes came out in 2009, or 2010. *shrug* Those two were good years for mixtapes this side of 2005. They were also when I got into downloading them :/… so, uh, yeah… there may be big gaps in my knowledge. But whatever.
YelaWolf - Trunk Muzik (2010)
Dude has a great sound, the beats are bassy and… banging (hate saying that but it’s true), and it showcases his ‘Bama life and style :}
And for those who actually think it’s up for debate, dude is DEFINITELY better than MGK. Stupid.
Some proof…
You can download the mixtape here.
Azealia Banks - Fantasea (2012)
This one may have been a little obvious, but to those who have actually been listening past 212, Azealia is somewhat of a lyrical force to be reckoned with these days. Well, at least in terms of originality, and again, having a good sound. The 90s house feel that most of these beats have go great with her style, and though she does risk sounding a bit repetitive in places, I still have this bad boy on repeat.
Mixtape download’s here.
Dom Kennedy - From the Westside With Love (2010)
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For me this one was a grower, but after a while it earned it’s place amongst my favourites. It’s a very chilled out, crusin’ around the neighbourhood on a hot day type of sound, and shows Dom cooling, being himself as he always does. No trap beats, no unnecessarily loud “buss-ya-shit-open beats”… and it makes it all the more loveable. Don’t get me wrong though, some of these beats still grab your attention, but they have a kind of relaxed rock about them. I’m a bit too English to really explain it though, heheh.
And you can get that here.
MeLo-X - Audio Foreplay
Again, this one should be pretty obvious given how much I’ve gone on about it in earlier posts, but I figured I should at least include it somewhere, as people still aren’t really giving MeLo-X the credit he deserves. Amazing sounds here, Hip-Hop + some UK Funky House (I mean the Donae’o, Crazy Cousinz type) + Dance + House + MeLo’s own jumpy glitchy beat style. He covers/remixes songs, some instrumental, some with vocals, and they all have quite a lofi, spaced out edge to them. Genius.
Mixtape includes one remix of a cover of Drake’s Houstatlantavegas. Beyond hot. (EDIT - Grooveshark doesn’t have it. Clearly too hot.)
Download link for that tape is here.
Aaaand that’s it for the honourable mentions. I’ll do the countdown tomorrow.
The Best (Mixtapes) I Ever Had
10:26 Sep 4th, 2012 | 1 note
I realise this blog has been pretty inactive.
That’s cool. That’s how life is sometimes. Sometimes it’s not on Tumblr. Sometimes it’s being outside and talking to people.
Buuut most of the time it’s not *squeal* hahaaa
I’ve been thinking though. Over the past few years, there’ve been some mixtapes that are definitely above and beyond albums that people actually pay for (as opposed to download from some internet leak site). Now I know a lot of people will automatically know what mixtapes I’m talking about. Some are a little obvious. I just like notating them.
So, for the next few posts, I’ll be doing a little countdown of the top ten mixtapes in Hip-Hop, in my opinion from the five or so years.
:)
