Ghetto Spider-Man! No, wait...

Wait, is this a mixtape? Finally?

After a brief hiatus, and after the buzz died down from his last outing with “The Sicktape, Vol. 2”, S-Preme is back with another offering for his fans. After the release was delayed a couple of days, “Is This A Mixtape!?” was finally released a couple of days ago to showcase more of the same that we’ve come to expect from S-Preme.

P.S: This isn’t to be confused with recently reviewed Beyond This Point’s “This Is A Mixtape!?” As you can see, they’re two completely different titles. See? On to the review.

The Good:

S-Preme has always had punchlines and his flow has always been the base of his originality from the rest of the rappers out, but in this case it seems as if he’s more comfortable as he rhymes over tracks here. From Timbaland’s “Say Something” to the K1ng Eljay-requested “Inkredible” instrumental from Trae the Truth (YES, I just plugged myself, so what? Lol) to Eminem’s “I’m Not Afraid”, he seems to have hit that comfort zone for his rhyming.

Also, songs like “I’m Afraid” show a side of S-Preme that most wouldn’t know existed. In what may be one of the most surprising songs I’ve heard from him, he opens up concerning his worries about not being able to break through in the music industry, rapping about the things he’s afraid of happening. Songs like this are the type of songs that make artists more accessible to fans, and this was definitely a step in the right direction as he begins to work on his next project, “S-Prodigy”…

…which was actually S-Preme’s original idea, contrary to what you might believe (for the record, S-Preme and co. announced that officially in December 2009).

The Bad:

Although this mixtape is really just a stepping stone to get to “S-Prodigy”, it still gets repetitive pretty fast because it’s a basic mixtape. S-Preme falls into the trap of rapping about himself rather quickly, and even on a couple of songs he goes into rants about not being where he wants to be in his career, which in most cases is ok, but in a project like this, it almost comes off as complaining about it as opposed to focusing to get out of that spot.

Also, although most of the punchlines are hit, a few of them are misses as well, but that’s a flaw on EVERY mixtape, and not just this one. The value of a line is always in the hands of the listener. Another random note: you can hear the Lupe Fiasco influence here. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but for some people that could present a problem as well, depending on how much you like/dislike Lupe’s sound.

Bottom Line:

S-Preme’s “Is This A Mixtape” is a solid listen and is definitely worth checking out, but here’s to hoping that his next project is a step in the right direction as opposed to another stepping stone. The potential is definitely there, so here’s to hoping that his worries don’t prove themselves correct.

Eljay’s Favorites:

• “I’m Afraid”
• “Come With Me” (Spotlight RMX)
• “Over…”

(Click here to download S-Preme’s “This Is A Mixtape”)

I wonder how long it took him to come up with the cover?

It also showcases most of his team, Echelon Republic, which also include the team captain PropaYne, JayLee, and D. Martin.

Although it does display his skills rather effectively (lyrics? Check. Production? Check), I was a little disappointed to see a couple of songs (including “Drop Your Girl”, linked below) not featured on the EP. Maybe he’s saving it for something else? Regardless, this is something that might interest you if you’re looking for a new artist to follow…

…that is, if he’d ever start dropping music regularly.

Check out the mixtape for yourself below though. It’s solid.

~~~

(Click here to Listen/Download J.Ellis’ “Creative Procrastination” here at DatPiff.com)

(Check here for his rendition of “Drop The World” entitled “Drop Your Girl”)

He must've REALLY been enjoying that food. I can dig it.

(Note from Eljay: See Part One (Drake) here)

~~~

There’s a lot of things I could say here that would garner love/hate from fans/enemies, and I honestly wouldn’t care too much about backlash, because half of the people that follow me on Twitter follow me because they think I hate Lupe. I can easily say that twenty percent of the people that follow me right now found interest from my “Seriously, Lupe” post that got imported over to the LupE.N.D. Blog and liked how I responded/didn’t respond to the drama around it (let’s not even discuss details about that…that’s done with. Shout out to Sean the Robot though, cool dude). It’s easy for me to see; I’m not an idiot. It’s also easy to think I hate Lupe, but that’s not true at all. In all honesty, I really like Lupe…

Musically.

I just don’t think he likes me… Personally.

I could mention how he seems to back out of every single thing he says he’s going to do musically; whether it’s his fault or not, it still makes fans restless when things just keep getting delayed to that extent. I could mention that it SEEMS as if he doesn’t care about his fans because of the way he handles things, but that’s nothing that Lupe fans haven’t said directly to him or to his entourage. And truthfully…the way I feel about Lupe’s more complicated than that.

It really is a love/hate relationship I have for this guy. I love his music, but I don’t think I like him personally. To be completely blunt, the first impression I got of him when I saw a couple of interviews was that he was a jerk. But then I heard his music, and then suddenly something weird happened for me.

I WANTED to like him. Personally, I wanted to make that connection with him that I’ve made with Eminem, Kanye, and QuESt, but for some reason, I can’t. I don’t know exactly why, but I have a few ideas. Personally, he doesn’t rap about himself that much in his projects. You can never really tell what Lupe’s going through, and if you can, it’s literally something that has to be translated by a die-hard fan Laser in a comment box on his blog.

No, seriously.

Besides that point, I know he’s been having issues as far as releasing music, but for some reason his reaction to leaked music has caused me and a few friends to coin the term #LupeMad on Twitter, because he genuinely gets extremely upset about it to the point of cancelling promised music because of a few bloggers getting over-anxious because he DOESN’T RELEASE MUSIC REGULARLY. As opposed to most other artists that put their all into their music the first time, so that they feel comfortable enough to stand by their product if it leaks.

Just saying.

It’s just to the point now where I feel like people are interested in him hoping for that old feeling they used to get when his single came on TV or hit the radio. They want the music to speak louder than his silence over the last couple of years, and that’s how I feel too. Whenever he releases music, I’ll listen, I’ll enjoy, and I’ll support.

But for now, I don’t think I have time to just wait around and hang off of his every word in hopes for him to drop a verse. I don’t follow ANY celebrity or rapper to that extent, and I would hope that others wouldn’t do that either.

Then again, maybe he’s not interested either. Who knows? We definitely don’t… but I guess time will tell.

K1ng Eljay

Eminem's no doubt my favorite rapper. Several reasons why, but the main one? I can relate to his writing process.

Recently, I’ve had this inner circle debate (with me, myself, and I, of course) about my list of my top ten favorite rappers of all time. Until recently, my thought process would remain the same concerning my list:

• Eminem.
• Nine other rappers.

That was until a day ago, when the collective opinions of myself, me, and I suddenly were sound-bombed by an onslaught of new music… And it became clear who my favorite two rappers were.

I’ve noticed that as I develop in life, I lean towards music that I can connect with more and more as opposed to the superficial radio hits that are manufactured for profitability purposes. For example…

Ludacris used to be my favorite rapper, but lately he’s done the opposite of what I’m looking for in my music. After dropping hip-hop tracks on “Theater of the Mind”, he’s stepped backwards into trying to make mainstream music again, and it is evident on “Battle of the Sexes” that he’s about the money now. I can’t blame him for that, but he can’t blame his core fans for now thinking he’s corny for taking that angle.

However… Now there’s another person who’s paired with Eminem at the top of my preference list, and now that I think about it, he’s been in the conversation all along. For some reason, I just never paid attention to him until his return a few days ago.

I’m really not trying to be cryptic with the reveal here, I promise. It just takes a lot to tell you how come I thoroughly enjoy Kanye West’s music. In all honesty, it’s his brutal honesty that hooked me in, and he’s always kept that element in his music, regardless if he was singing or rapping. You never doubt once that he’s not being real when he’s making music.

The same can be said for Eminem as well. It reflects in their music better than anyone else that makes music that’s well-known. You can hear their maturity and their development in their music to the point it made you want to know more about their personality.

For Eminem, it’s been an uphill struggle. You’ve seen the tragedies in his life. You’ve heard the stories about his upbringing (which were verified from several sources), and you’ve seen him when he’s the weakest. He’s a normal guy that uses music to vent his frustrations. You’ve seen him as he did a very normal thing and turned to drugs as opposed to music. And now, you see him finally deciding to do the right thing for his family and himself and dropping his bad habits. And every last moment of that has been illustrated in his music at some point.

Kanye's my second...no one's gripped me from the beginning like Kanye has. No homo.

At the same time, you’ve seen Kanye as a hungry producer slash rapper trying to get his foot into the industry. You’ve WATCHED him as he grew lyrically and began to compete with Jay-Z as the frontrunner for the Roc. You’ve watched as his swagger developed and his cockiness began to rub off on everything he touched. You watched as he realized how dope he was. You knew he knew he was dope, but he’s so dope at being dope you can’t lie and try to shoot down his ego because he’s THAT GOOD. You’ve seen Kanye’s priorities shift as his mother died, and you’ve watched his brutal honesty get him into hot water…

Over…and over…and over…and over again…But for some reason we still rocked with him because his talent was there and his honesty was there. And each facet of his persona is highlighted in his music.

In short, when they went through things, everyone knew it. It came out in their product. They turned pain into progress. Their music was LITERALLY a two-way mirror; they give out what they go through, but on the other side we can see exactly what they see.

That’s not in music today. Yes, you can say that Jay-Z does that, but I can’t relate to half the things Jay says because I didn’t start dealing drugs at 12. I never did. I didn’t have to shoot my brother for stealing my jewelry. I miss being able to HEAR emotion when people make music, and to me the only two well-known people doing it are Eminem and Kanye West. Somehow, they’re managed to get out their emotions and feelings in music and make people feel as if they can relate to it.

That’s why so many people always throw it back to Tupac as being their favorite. He was the same way, and I can’t get mad at them for wishing he was still alive for that same reason. At the same time though, Em and Ye are both just as adept at getting their emotions and feelings out, and for some reason or another, they’ve connected with me.

Whether it’s Eminem’s insane thought process, his writing style, or Kanye’s real-life lyrics, or the way they both have the ability to take criticism and spin it back at you in a positive way (or a diss…like Kanye and Saturday Night Live. Haha!), I can relate completely.

And I love it.

Who’s your top two?

K1ng Eljay

The Good:

It’s an EP, so it’s no DJ screaming over tracks, which is becoming more and more of a bonus as time goes on for me. The songs that are good are done well, and the production for the most part is solid. Ross’ cameos are heavy, from Ne-Yo and Trey Songz to Triple C’s and Birdman, but most of the cameos fit the songs nicely.

The Bad:

This EP is so inconsistent it makes no sense. You have the songs with verses and no hook – such as “Fire Hazard” – that just makes it awkward. Then you have the songs with garbage hooks, like this:

“I think I’m Big Meech, Larry Hoover / Whippin’ work, Hallelujah” (“Blowin Money Fast”)

Then there are the songs with just horrible lyrical work, such as “White Sand” by Triple C’s:

“Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack, crack kills motherf**ker who cares?”

Um, no.

Although I will say that it was one of the Triple C members that said that line and not Ross, it still just seems like this mixtape was more of the throwaway tracks that weren’t destined to make his next album. That’s how it comes off to the listener, at least. That’s not a good look. It’s also never a good sign when your EP intro is Diddy talking for four minutes…

Bottom Line:

This really isn’t worth the download except for a couple of songs. I’d recommend skipping this one and waiting for the album, “Teflon Don.”

Eljay’s Favorites

• “Money Maker”
• “All I Need” feat. Birdman and Trey Songz

(Click here to download Rick Ross – “The Albert Anastasia EP” courtesy of 2DopeBoyz.com)

(Or here as an alternate…)

I never saw Diddy hug Black Rob like that. Just saying.

This is the type of story where it’s easy to miss what REALLY happened, so I’ll just point out a few things and let you make your own decision.

Diddy has said recently that he went to have a personal visit Lil Wayne in prison at Riker’s Island and that they just talked for a while. It was basically a feel-good visit. On the surface, that sounds ok. I want to believe that Diddy decided to up and visit Wayne in jail because that would be a genuinely good look for the mogul…but that’s not Diddy’s character. And if you’ve followed Sean Comb’s career ANY, you’d feel that something was off here too.

I’ll just point a couple of things out here…

In the past, Diddy only moves when it benefits him. Every single thing Diddy has done has the underlying benefit of bettering himself and his brand. From him running the city (nice publicity) to the failed bands (nice publicity, decent profitability) to the music, it all benefits him.

The other reason why this sounds suspect to me is because Lil Wayne’s in PRISON. Diddy has had artists in jail before and he never went to visit them previously, so what makes Lil Wayne suddenly special? At the time Bad Boy was doing it big on the radio/video scene, G-Dep and Black Rob were a part of the movement. Singles like “Special Delivery”, “Let’s Get It”, and the various remixes that came out of the Bad Boy camp were dope songs, but then they fell on hard times.

G-Dep was locked up. Black Rob (who’s mad underrated as a rapper, by the way) JUST got out of jail, and neither of them were blessed with a visit from Combs. Then there’s Shyne, who – in my opinion, from the outside looking in – should’ve got flowers from Diddy every two weeks for what he did. Lo and behold, he received NOTHING but the biggest screw-over in the WORLD.

That big screw-over didn’t include a visit, for the record…

So this begs to the question of why? Why would Diddy do something so charitable? Besides the semi-publicity that comes with saying “I did something nice for one of the biggest rap stars of the decade?” Unlike the question of why Kat Stacks allows people to whip her banana pudding for the cream (dolla dolla bill y’all), the Diddy situation actually has a solution that might’ve slipped your mind if you haven’t thought about it.

Recently I saw an article that had Diddy praising Nicki Minaj as one of the great female rappers. Maybe a bit of a stretch, but it made me wonder where THAT came from. So I did a little digging and found out that recently Diddy’s been making power moves. He became Rick Ross’ personal manager.

And then he became Nicki’s Minaj’s manager. So that could explains the sudden praise. If you haven’t figured out where Lil’ Wayne falls into all of this, just consider that Weezy and Nicki are on the same label (Young Money Records).

Just pointing a few things out…

That being said…. me personally? I really want to believe that Diddy did that just to be nice, and that it wasn’t a business visit, and that it had no ulterior motive whatsoever. I even want to believe that Diddy was maybe there to give Wayne gun-hiding advice, considering he escaped gun charges a while back, but previous statements and actions lead me to say…

“We don’t believe you, you need more people…”

Later.

K1ng Eljay

Irony: being one of the first people to make mixtapes popular, and then making a mixtape saying (cuss) a mixtape. The mind of Clifford Harris Jr., ladies and gentlemen.

K1ng Eljay - This is the first official full-length project from T.I. since being released from being jailed for having an arsenal of choppers outside Wal-Greens….or something like that.

Ironically, the person that helped to establish the mixtape game releases a mixtape defiantly stating that he doesn’t need a mixtape to prove he’s nice on the microphone. Being one of the prime representatives of the South when it comes to hip-hop and mainstream appeal (without completely selling out), most of us are just glad to see him back to making music again. “F**k A Mixtape (The Mixtape)” is sure to get a nice amount of play until “King Uncaged” is released.

The Good:

It’s just good to finally get some new music from T.I., honestly. The mixtape features everything we’ve come to expect from him, from his wordplay to his flow to his aggressiveness on tracks. It’s all still here as if he never left. Although this is a traditional mixtape, and not a mixtape-album like I’d prefer, the mixtape is FULL of new, solid songs that can easily achieve iPod status.

The production value on this mixtape is as high as it can get. From the likes of Timbaland (he still does hip-hop? What?), Smash Factory, Track Slayers (responsible for T.I.’s single “I’m Back”), No I.D. (yes, No I.D.) and more, the starts came out heavy to motor T.I.’s project.

And the interludes from Jamie Foxx, Lil Duval, and Kevin Hart (aka Chocolate Drop…pause) are hilarious. They don’t take away from the mixtape at all, unlike a lot of interludes on other mixtapes that are just awkward.

The Bad:

This is more along the lines of the street music that TIP used to make as opposed to the mainstream stuff he’s released before “I’m Back.” For some people (like me) this isn’t a big deal, but for the casual T.I. fan, that might rub you the wrong way, so just be prepared for that. I’ll put it this way; if your favorite song from T.I. is “Whatever You Like”…skip this mixtape. It’s not for you.

Although the interludes are funny, and on the first play-through everything flows, it gets to a point sometimes where T.I. himself talks too much about his reasoning for doing the mixtape. After the fourth time, we get the fact that he doesn’t NEED to release free music, he’s just doing it out of the love for rapping. We get it. Whenever he starts interrupting songs to say that over and over again, it hinders the flow of the music.

Also, some of the songs on the mixtape don’t sound completely finished… Maybe that’s just my ear though.

Bottom Line:

The music was definitely worth the wait to see how T.I. would come back out, and it seems like he’s more aggressive than ever. Hopefully this mindstate will carry over into his album “King Uncaged”… Check this one out if you miss TIP as opposed to T.I. and if you want a GOOD LAUGH at the interludes from the guest comedians.

Eljay’s Favorites:

• “Here We Go Again” (produced by Timbaland)
• “Welcome Back To The Trap” (produced by Smash Factory)
• “B***h Who” feat. MacBoney
• The Interludes with Jamie Foxx, Lil Duval, and Kevin Hart

(Download DJ Drama and T.I.’s “F**k A Mixtape” here, courtesy of 2DopeBoyz.com)

Shhhh... Drake's thinking of a new punchline, don't disturb him...

K1ng Eljay – The homie H2 inspired these. Basically put, it’s my in-depth opinion on certain superstars in the industry. H2 went on a rant with his and jumped to 17 different artists, but I’m just going to pick one for today. Shouts to the homie for the idea, and hit him on twitter (although he’s a Twitter Bully…lol)

~~~

This one might not make sense to a lot of people. Lately I’ve been wondering how come I’m not feeling Drake musically as much as I used to. The music is still technically the same quality as “So Far Gone” (his mixtape) and all of his lyrics still have that zing to it, but I’ve been unable to isolate a real reason for why I’m losing interest in his music.

For a lot of people, their reason would be because he’s everywhere, all the time, constantly. A lot of people get tired of artists when they’re oversaturating themselves in the media, and although I could see that happening with Drizzy, that aspect does bother me personally in music. I mean… to be blunt, I followed Charles Hamilton and Lil’ Wayne during their onslaught of releasing music, so it’ll NEVER seem like too much for me because I’m used to the way they used to do music.

Some people would say it’s because of his monotone flow and his patterned songs. Basically put, he raps verses, and then sings the hook, or sings and then raps at the end. Once again, that doesn’t bother me at all because I happen to like songs like that. Sometimes familiarity is a good thing.

So I began to overanalyze what’s wrong with “me”, and I went back and listened to all of his mixtapes starting at “Room For Improvement.” Ironically, I saw this “When I Was 17” special that was posted on 2DopeBoyz.com (or MTV.com, or somewhere), and I saw how Drake used to be when he was younger. One of the guys on there said he used to steal his parents car and act like it was his in order to fit in and be cool. He became a club promoter at a point, and he dropped out of high school.

Hmm.

Then this Birdman song came on (“4 My Town”) and as I listened to the hook it clicked for me when it got to this part:

“…and I’m easily influenced by the n*ggas I’m around…”

See, over the last few years as I’ve watched Drake, he’s changed a little bit. We joke about stars becoming different once they make it, but I would rather him become different than as easily influenced by things as he is. Young Money hasn’t necessarily been the best place for him to be, and it’s become evident in some of his rhymes, which have become more and more arrogant as he keeps going.

He reminds me of Kanye West as far as bragging rights go, and granted, they were on the same song together and Drake performed at the Grammys, but the difference between him and Kanye? Kanye sold records like crazy, consistently. Drake has yet to do that, so for him to brag and say all the things he’s saying without even releasing a debut LP yet kind of bothers me. It always bothers me when someone says they’re the best. I feel that’s a title that someone else has to give you. Besides…I remember when Drake didn’t use to brag at all, and songs that don’t feature him bragging are the ones I like the most.

The other difference between Kanye and Drake is that Kanye’s not impressionable at all. He truthfully does not care what you think. He’s proven it time and time again. Drake has proven to me he’s easily influenced by people, and when you’re heading towards stardom like he is, that’s eventually going to turn into a problem.

Or maybe it is now, with all of those leaks springing for his album… Somebody in his circle’s messing up…

Bottom line, I really like Drake. I’m a fan of his music, I think he’s a dope writer, but he’s too easily influenced by the likes of other people…although he keeps screaming “F**k Ya Suggestions” on every 3-minute freestyle he releases. To me, it’s just not a good mix when an artist is THAT moldable.

Here’s to hoping that I’m dead wrong.

K1ng Eljay

"Yoga FIRE!" Wait, no? Ok, wrong reference... thought he was Dhalsim from Street Fighter... my bad...

First off, forgive me if I misspell anything. Please.

Ok.

The homegirl Cali (follow her on Twitter! Heavy tweeter warning though) sent me this mixtape from “Beyond This Point” to review last week and I had no idea of who this group was or what they did or any background information on them at all. So I put it on the iPod and pressed play.

The title fits. This feels like way more than a mixtape. This is more of an introduction to the way these people do music. Completely different, completely eclectic, completely original, and, more importantly… completely recommended.

The Good:

It’s not rap. It’s not R&B. This is something different, almost on the same brain wave of originality NOT unlike a Timbaland “Shock Value” project, but with more of an eclectic hip-hop/r&b feel to it. It’s the best way I can describe it, honestly.

From songs completely inspired from beat-boxing (“Dredflly Mrvelu5″), to the transformer-infused hip-hop song (“Rnd0m H@us”), to the almost Black Eyed Peas-ish vibe (“Ap3 Shyt”), the whole mixtape shows off all the different dimensions of this group.

The presentation and the effects in the song are wild, outlandish, random, and but somehow it all comes together in an oddly dope way.

The Bad:

First off, its only nine songs. I wish it was longer because the experience is over too fast. In that defense however, each song is lengthy, and the mixtape is DJ-scream free. Trust me, there’s a lot of other random sounds to keep you occupied…

The group is also not the BEST of singers, but the melodies and the song concepts carry them one-handed through those soft spots in the mixtape-album.

The Interesting:

Hip-hop fans, meet AO. He’s the in-house rapper on this project, and the songs he’s featured on are insanely dope. I’ve never heard of him (I don’t think I have, at least), but from the feature verse on “Dstr@y Me” (which had one of the most clever intro punchlines I’ve heard in a long time: “It took me 10 years to Detox…”), to his own song with “Rnd0m H@us”, if these two songs are any indication, this dude is nice with it.

Bottom Line:

The presentation’s there. The lyrical content is solid. It all comes together in a way where I can’t put this group into a type of category. The originality for this on another level, and I can’t put it into words how surprising this mixtape is.

I still can’t believe this is a mixtape… it feels like something way more. You should check this out. End of review.

Eljay’s Favorites

• “Rnd0m H@us” feat. AO
• “Dstr@y Me” feat. AO
• “Mynd Rnnin’ feat. AO
• “FUTRE 2 FTURE”

(Click here to download Beyond This Point’s “This Is A Mixtape?!” courtesy of “Pardon My Fresh”)