mixtapereviews DJ SMALLZ PRESENTS CURRENSY & MACK MAINE G-SERIES VOL. 1 As the President of Cash Money Records, Lil’ Wayne has a hard task ahead of him: taking the helm of a record label that has a history of raping artists and dropping artists just as quick as they sign them. It’s hard to believe that he can resurrect the label that had the game on lock for most of the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Lil’ Wayne has teamed up with DJ Smallz to present Cash Money’s newest artists Currensy and Mack Maine. Mack Maine is unfamiliar to a lot of us, but most of us know Currensy, a.k.a. The Hot Spitta, from his days as a soldier in Master P’s No Limit Army. To my surprise, both of these artist shine pretty bright on this mixtape. Currensy’s lyrics are his strong point and he shows it on songs like “Poppin’ them Bottles” and “Dro.” His style is way too laid back and if you aren’t totally awake he may just put you to sleep. Mack Maine is VERY energetic though. He’s definitely not as tight on the lyrics as Currensy is, but he makes up for it with his style and flare. The boy shines bright on “Front Back” and “Ball Bats” and even though you can hear some Lil’ Wayne influences in his style it’s not overbearing. Both artists still need a lil’ work, but they’re both good picks for Cash Money. With a lil’ help from the Birdman Jr. these two artists may be able to lead Cash Money back to the promised land. - DJ Chuck T DJ SMALLZ & JODY BREEZE THE GAME IS A BREEZE After puttin’ in heavy work in the streets for the last 2 years as part of the supergroup Boyz N Da Hood Jody Breeze finally gives us another taste of what he can do on his own. The “Young Gunna” enlists the help of “Mr. Southern Smoke” DJ Smallz to help him put out his 2nd solo mixtape and hopefully capitalize off of the rep he’s built as being one of the tightest members of Boyz N Da Hood. Jody Breeze stands next to a star-studded cast on his mixtape, but proves he can hold his own and not be overshadowed. He rides with 8Ball and Jazze Pha on “Ballin’ My Life Away” and goes verse for verse with Slim Thug on Stackin’ Paper”. “Back In Business” feat. Lil’ Wayne and Boyz N Da Hood is joint also a banger. Jody Breeze is one of the south’s most promising artists and he proves it on this mixtape. This mixtape will definitely have you waiting on for his album to drop. - DJ Chuck T DJ DRAMA & LIL WAYNE DEDICATION PT. 2 The mixtape has to be the most highly anticipated mixtape of 2006. The streets have been fiending for this CD for the last 8 months and DJ Drama and Weezy F. Baby have finally hit the block and opened up shop. I’mma be honest with you, I thought the first Dedication was kinda whack and I personally wasn’t impressed with it, but I was eagar to peep this one out just to see if Weezy had stepped it up a notch. Well, he did! The first thing that stood out to me about this Dedication was that the quality of the songs was better. I’m glad dude gave Drama some professionally mixed tracks to work with on this CD. Also, his beat selection was a whole lot better. He ripped every track on this CD and I only hit the skip button once. Weezy rips tha Biggie Smallz “Spit Your Game” track on “Spitter” and murders that Outkast “Southernplayalistc” beat on the “South Music” freestyle. His original tracks are hot too. “Walk It Off” reminds me of Lil’ Wayne in his younger days when he was spittin’ flames on that first Hot Boyz album. Weezy has named himself “The ‘Best Rapper Alive,” and, although he’s not, he comes close. The only niggas fuckin’ with him lyrically and stylistically are T.I. and Bun B, who are both his elders I might add. - DJ Chuck T MICK BOOGIE & RICK ROSS RICK THE RULER Second to that Lil’ Wayne and DJ Drama Dedication Pt. 2 mixtape, this CD has to be the most highly anticipated mixtape on the streets. Rick Ross has grinded 104 OZONE
hard for over 8 years and it seems like it’s all paying off in 2006. The boy has popped up on damn near every mixtape that’s dropped in the last 6 months and “Hustlin’” is without a doubt the street anthem of 2006. From start to finish, this CD was put together very well. I gotta give “The Commissioner” Mick Boogie two thumbs up on the arrangement. Rick Ross didn’t really shine like I expected him to, though. I was amped up like a muthafucka to bump this shit straight through but his flow gets very redundant by the end of the CD and it’s almost like this CD is one long song with different beats. I gotta give Rick some credit though, he ripped “Whip It Real Hard” and “Grippin’ Grain.” Those two tracks are sure to stay on repeat on every real nigga’s CD player. He also came hard on the remix for “Gettin’ Some Head.” I know Rick is gonna be doing another mixtape here real soon with either DJ Drama or Khaled so I’mma cross my fingers and hope the boy dont let me down on that one. I believe in Rick Ross and wanna see him win. - DJ Chuck T LLOYD BANKS & WHOO KID MO’ MONEY IN THE BANK Damn! With the G-Unit machine lookin’ like its about to run out of gas, 50 Cent looks to Lloyd Banks to save his empire from crumbling. After Mobb Deep and Tony Yayo put up lackluster numbers and failed to live up the hype that was created to promote their albums, the Unit’s reputation falls on shoulders of the “Boy Wonder.” I popped in this CD with the hopes of hearing some straight New York crack music, and guess what: I did! This CD was a banger from start to finish and had me nodding my head so hard I caught whiplash. Banks hasn’t lost a step and still delivers the lyrical masterpieces and witty punchlines that made most of us feel him in the first place. It’s also very obvious that he brings out the best in his G-Unit labelmates also. 50 Cent shines, Yayo shines, Young Buck shines and so does Spyder Loc and Mobb Deep. This CD took me back to 2004 when G-Unit was on top and it didn’t seem like it was possible for them to fall off. “Cake,” featuring 50 Cent, is one of the standout tracks on this CD and so is “Shitty City.” “My House” featuring Timbaland is supposed to be Banks’ first single, but honestly, it isn’t that great to me. “Killa’s Theme” featuring Tony Yayo and “Special” are guaranteed bangers and also take you back to G-Unit’ss glory days. After listening to this CD I only have 2 words for you: Cop it! - DJ Chuck T ATTITUDE & DJ WALLY SPARKS KEYS TO THE STREETS ALABAMA STAND UP!! Attitude a.k.a. The Dirt Road Mack has teamed up with DJ Wally Sparks to present to you his first official mixtape. No longer with the Aphilliates Music Group, Attitude steps out on his own to prove to the dirty South music community that there’s more hidden jewels in Alabama then just the 334 M.O.B.B.. After appearing on countless mixtapes and grinding the streets hard, Attitude finally delivers us a full serving of what he’s capable of. From the jump I was amazed at the production on the CD. I don’t know who’s doing production for that boy, but they definitely gave him some heat to spit on. He meshes well with all the original tracks on the CD and that’s the key when it come to making a good song. Attitude straight wrecks “First Thing First” and “Right Quick.” These joints were so hot they even had my 3 year old son bouncing around like I mixed some Crunk Juice in his Capri Sun. His freestyle over “Hustlin’” was pretty tight and so was his freestyle over Miss B’s club anthem “Bottle Action.” Attitude has a very distinct sound and delivery that separates him from most of the Southern rappers out today. His hooks tend to be little average and lack originality at times, but I can’t really say that any of the tracks on this CD were worthy of the skip button. I like hearing new artists from the South rep where they’re from and Attitude doesn’t let you mistake where he’s from. He makes it plain on about 98% of the CD that he’s from Alabama, and he’s proud of it too. After blasting this CD for the last 80 minutes. I can definitely say that if Attitude doesn’t have a deal by the end of the summer then somebody must be hatin’ like a muthafucka! - DJ Chuck T