Poe Boy Entertainment and DJ Obscene We Run Miami On We Run Miami, Rick Ross sounds like his success in ’06 wasn’t enough as Ross goes harder on “Career Criminal” than most tracks from his solo album. New music from Flo-Rida (“Birthday”), Brisco (“I’m Into Dat”) and the Triple C’s (“Lightning Strikes”) are more reasons Poe Boy has a right to boast about running Miami. – Randy Roper
Block & DJ Smallz Welcome To My Block With the emergence of Yung Joc and Boyz N Da Hood, Block and his Block Entertainment label have become a formable Southern force. Block’s new mixtape hosted by DJ Smallz, Welcome To My Block, is a reminder of what the Eastside Chevy Rider and his label are capable of. While Joc and Boyz N Da Hood make minimal appearances, the primary purpose of this mixtape is to introduce the label’s newest member, Gorilla Zoe. – Randy Roper
Deuce Poppi & DJ Frank Luv Florida’s Most Wanted (2 ½) Having spent his career under the tutelage of Trick Daddy and Trina, you’d expect more from Deuce Poppi. But the few high points on this mixtape are saturated by sloppy freestyles, remakes and pointless commentary. Not even Deuce’s Steve Urkel catchphrase-influenced single “Did I Do That” featuring Trina could convince listeners otherwise. – Randy Roper
Ice Mizzle & DJ Scream Frozen Water You should never judge a book (or an album) by its cover, but you could draw an accurate conclusion that the music might not be up to standards from the obsolete No Limit Records-style artwork for Frozen Water. Although most of Ice Mizzle’s content is money, hoes and clothes, songs like “Don’t Know If You Love Me” and “Don’t Take Your Love” are worth a listen. – Randy Roper
Sy Scott & Don Cannon Sychosis The Street Album Vol. 1 The Aphilliates have an incredible track record for hosting mixtapes for dope artists. Rowdy Records artist Sy Scott does come across as a lyricist but Sy is seemingly rhyming to hear himself rhyme. Sy’s rap style is equivalent to reading an essay full of run-on sentences, thus making it difficult to pay attention. – Randy Roper
Roam Bad Daddy & DJ B-Lord Death Before Dishonor On B-Lord’s new mixtape series Trojan Man the South Cack Kingpin hooks up Roam Bad Daddy to show the streets what Pure Pain is about. On Death Before Dishonor Roam reps his indie Pure Pain label (“Don’t Want It”), poursout his heart (“Kill Me”), and keeps his enemies close and friends even closer (“Fake Niggaz”). Although some of Bad Daddy’s freestyles will have you hitting the skip button, his exclusive music will bang from Savannah to Texas until Roam’s album Say Hello To The Bad Guy drops. – Randy Roper
C Ride & DJ Ideal Get Right or Get Left C Ride is bringing more M-I-Yayo music to the rap game. While many tracks on Get Right or Get Left sound the same, C Ride still manages to put it down for his city on tracks like “Represent” and “Florida Boyz.” And when the music starts to get monotonous C Ride effectively smooths it out on for the ladies on tracks like “Walk Different” and “Strokin’.” But his tale of a NBA player’s sexual perils (“Virgin Part II”) is C Ride at his best.
Pitbull & DJ Ideal Chapter I Pit’s newest mixtape is 24 tracks of the harder side of Mr. 305. No dance club “Bojangles” or “Culo” style tracks on this one. This time Pitbull delivers that pure Miami street music that put him on in the first place. – Randy Roper
Ray Cash & DJ E-V Bitch I’m From Cleveland DJ E-V brings Ray Cash and fellow Cleveland emcees, Chip Tha Ripper and Fat Al, to represent for the streets of Cleveland. The underrated Ray Cash is as impressive as ever but Ripper, Al and the appearances from other rappers (excluding the two random features from Lil Wayne) add little to the Cleveland takeover. – Randy Roper
Tru Life & J-Love Tru York From the cover down to the mixtape’s content, Tru Life is clearly at war with the DipSet as tracks like “The Dips Is Ova” made enough noise to get Cam and Co.’s attention. And when he’s not taking aim at the Diplomats, he’s showing why Jay-Z signed the newcomer to Roc-La-Familia. – Randy Roper
Little Brother & Mick Boogie And Justus For All 9th Wonder threw up the deuces to Phonte and Rapper Big Pooh but the two Justus League emcees still have what it takes to carry on as a duo. Their Mick Boogie mixtape features production from Nottz, Khrysis and a few tracks from 9th, as well as guest appearances from Rhymefest, Ray Cash and Talib Kweli. Although LB flunked in the commercial success department, they’ve never had issues in the critically acclaimed category and this mixtape (even with few contributions from 9th) is grade A work. – Randy Roper OZONE MAG // 109