Spark Dawg Doin’ What You Can’t
Maino/If Tomorrow Comes Hustle Hard/Atlantic It’s not Maino’s lyricism that makes If Tomorrow Comes a solid first effort, but throughout his debut album, he managed to tell his story from spending ten years in prison to becoming one of the most anticipated rappers to come out of NYC in years. Maino’s singles “Hi Hater” and “All The Above” are standouts, but “Remember My Name,”“Runaway,”“Floating” and “Hood Love” with Trey Songz are the tracks that carry the album’s message of striving through life’s tribulations. This album is better viewed as a whole as opposed to track by track, but however you look at it, Maino should be applauded for properly conveying his life’s story through his music. - Randy Roper
Ace Hood/Ruthless We The Best/Def Jam Despite the fact that Ace Hood’s debut album Gutta was released less than a year ago, Khaled, We The Best and Def Jam felt the need to deliver Ace’s sophomore album ASAP. But this album is a lot like the first one. Yes, Ace can rap fairly well, but none of his songs are anything special. Not the song with Ludacris (“Born An O.G.”), not the song with Akon & TPain (“Overtime”), not even the song with Rick Ross & Jazmine Sullivan (“Champion”). Maybe he needs to learn how to tame his ruthless, rapid-fire, aggressive flow. Or maybe, since he has the Runners, the Inkredibles and all of Def Jam at Khaled’s fingertips, he should pick better beats. Whatever the case may be, Ruthless isn’t a bad album. It’s just not anything to keep in heavy rotation. - Randy Roper
Pleasure P/The Introduction of Marcus Cooper Swagga Entertainment/ Bluestar/Atlantic Comebacks aren’t always easy. Fortunately, former Pretty Ricky member Pleasure P has his alter ego Mr. Marcus Cooper to help him out. Coming strong with his solo debut album, The Introduction Of Mr. Marcus Cooper, Pleasure lets it be known that he can handle the weight on his own, delivering an overall impressive album. With the single “Did You Wrong” providing the main steam for this engine, Pleasure gives an album full of baby making music with notable titles such as “Tender Roni” and “Fire Lovin.” Judging from this (re)introduction, it looks like Mr. Cooper may be here for a while. - Tony Burgos 60 // OZONE MAG
Trey Songz/ Anticipation As the release date for his third album Ready approaches, Trey Songz hits awaiting fans with a freebie called Anticipation. With songs like “Scratchin’ Me Up,” “Does She Know” and “It Would Be You,” this mixtape could have easily been packaged as Songz’s album. Most of the tracks on here are good, but none of them are necessarily his best work, which is probably why the tracks were offered up for free. But this release does a good job of heightening the anticipation for Songz’s new album. I think we’re Ready for it. - Randy Roper
While the title may be a tad bit lofty for regional superstar Spark Dawg, his efforts here have him poised for national recognition. He opens strong with the trumpet and 808-laced “Grape.” Following are impressive concept records like “Open Letter to God,” where he talks to the big man upstairs ala Eminem’s “Stan,” and “Real Niggaz Revenge,” where he raps from the perspective of a jealous somebody. Both songs carry hints of Slim Shady’s writing prowess. While Spark shows range with his beat selection and flows, the only flaw that takes away from the listening experience is the average sound quality, which is a big flaw. But if you can get past that, Spark has a strong collection of songs on this project. - Maurice G. Garland
Young Jeezy & DJ Folk Trappin’ Ain’t Dead The latest mixtape from Mr. 17.5 is consistent with the thug motivational rhymes over synthesized production that listeners have come to expect from the CTE breadwinner. The mixtape has plenty of tracks like “My 1st 48 Hrs,”“I’m Goin’ In” and “Biggest Movie Ever” that’ll satisfy Jeezy fans through the summer. But some of the tracks like “Might Just Blow That” and “Ready To Ride” are lukewarm at best, and sound more like music you’ve heard before (or possible leftovers from his last album The Recession). Trappin’ Ain’t Dead is a good release, but you get the feeling he’s saving his best work for his next album, Thug Motivation 103. - Randy Roper
Soulja Boy & DJ Drama Follow Me: Gangsta Grillz
Born Wit It, DJ Holiday & The Empire Substance Abuse From the opening verse, you can tell this mixtape is worth a listen. The first official mixtape from these Atlanta B.o.B affiliates has tracks like “Dying To Live,”“Life Gets Harder” and “Stack Your Paper Up” that will quickly start comparisons to Atlanta duos like Youngbloodz and Outkast (okay, not quite Outkast). There are a couple tracks Substance Abuse could have gone without, but overall this mixtape place the group in the “artists to watch” category. - Randy Roper
True S.O.D. Money Gang fanatics will love this mixtape because it’s a Gangsta Grillz, and because it’s Soulja Boy, but with a project this overdue, a little more time could have been spent on the song selection and arrangement. “Bands” and “I Got Mojo” are superb Soulja Boy material and would have been best served opening up the project, rather than appearing later in the tracklist. “Go Ham” featuring OJ da Juiceman and the freestyles are somewhat lacking, but they make up for it with songs like “What You Know,”“Gold Grill Shawty,” and the bonus track “Bitch I’m Paid.” This mixtape will definitely hold fans over until the release of SB’s third album The DeAndre Way, or maybe the second Gangsta Grillz. - Ms. Rivercity
Nicki Minaj, DJ Holiday, & The Trap-A-Holics Beam Me Up Scotty Nicki the Ninja has created a sub-culture of harajuku barbie bitches and her fan club probably doubled with this mixtape. Though a few freestyles like “Best I Ever Had” and “Get Silly” could have been left off, overall the complaints are few. Young Money’s diva impresses on nearly every song starting with “I Get Crazy.” The ode to Fendi and Louis (“Shopaholic” with Bobby V and Gucci Mane) is also worth a listen, along with “Keys Under Palm Trees” and “Easy” with Gucci and Rocko. Nicki’s image may be similar to a Lil Kim, but her range of skill and content are superior. Kim can swallow a Sprite can—Nicki can rap, act, and sing. - Ms. Rivercity