& Lil WaynE/Rebirth Cash Money/Universal After one listen it’s obvious why Lil Wayne’s attempt at becoming a full-fledged rockstar was continuously pushed back. Simply put, Rebirth doesn’t sound good. The album’s first single “Prom Queen,” the second single “On Fire” and “Drop The World,” featuring a guest verse from Slim Shady, round out the handful of somewhat likeable songs. The rest of Weezy’s rock album is bad enough to make Jim Hendrix spin in his grave. Lets hope Wayne got these rock aspirations out of his system and delivers a classic in The Carter IV. – Randy Roper Young MoneY We Are Young Money Cash Money/Universal There’s no question, with a line up that includes Drake, Nicki Minaj, Mack Maine, Gudda Gudda, Jae Millz and Tyga, Lil Wayne has assembled one of rap’s most talented crews/ labels. Unfortunately, this Young Money album doesn’t exactly make for the best showcasing of this aforementioned talent. “Every Girl” and “BedRock” are cool singles, but add those to “Ms. Parker,”“Wife Beater,”“Girl I Got You” and “She Is Gone,” and damn near half the album features lukewarm tracks about YM groupies. There are other standouts like “Steady Mobbin” and “Pass The Dutch,” and you can’t complain about listening to new verses from Weezy, Drizzy and the rest of Young Mula. But overall this album is more random than reputable. – Randy Roper B.o.B., DJ Drama & DJ SensE May 25th Since B.o.B. has finally been blessed with a release date for his album, The Adventures of Bobby Ray, this Aphilliates’ mixtape serves as the perfect promotion for his debut (which is due to be released on May 25th, if you didn’t catch that). May 25th the mixtape has a good balance of B.o.B. and Bobby Ray. B.o.B. is the rapper who attracted fans at the start of his career with songs like “Bet I” featuring Playboy Tre, “Gladiators” with J. Cole and “Fuck The Money,” produced by Kanye West and featuring Asher Roth. And for Bobby Ray fans that adore the his rock/pop/bluegrass side, this mixtape has songs like “The Rain” and “Don’t Feel So Good.” May 25th is a good tape, and with DJ Drama keeping his commentary and drops to a minimum, it flows even better. – Randy Roper Bun B/No Mixtape Bun B released a project entitled No Mixtape, rapped over other artists’ beats and ripped track after track the UGK way, but according to Bun it’s not a mixtape (so I’m not sure what to call it). Besides a few snippets off Bun’s upcoming Trill OG album that could have been saved until they’re ready to be heard in their entirety, from top to bottom, No Mixtape is a solid effort. – Randy Roper Yo Gotti & DJ Drama Cocaine Muzik 4 The Cocaine Muzik series continues with Yo Gotti bringing us the fourth installment. This time, however, Gotti, brings his friend Zedzilla along. While Zedzilla isn’t stellar he does a good job on CM4, which also features a good dose of Gotti. Tracks like “Both Sides,” “Women Lie Men Lie” and “Touchdown” help Gotti maintain the quality of his CM brand and are likely to make their way among your Gotti favorites. Not surprisingly, Gotti keeps his streak alive with CM4 and gives us another reason to pay attention to him besides his white Lambo. – Rohit Loomba
Travis Porter, Waka Flocka Flame,& DJ Teknikz Streets R Us An unlikely matchup at first glance, this blend of teenie-bop plus street-crunk turns out to be a good balance. Travis Porter continues to improve their songwriting abilities and concepts with new singles like “Go Shorty Go,”“Call You” featuring New Boyz, and “Uh Huh, Pt 2” ft. Bryan J. The TP/Waka collabs (“Hell You Talmbout” ft Frenchie & “Waffle House”) are repeatable as well, with Waka’s solo tracks turning things up throughout the tape. Apart from a few redundant tracks, Quez, Ali, Strap, Waka, and DJ Teknikz created an entertaining project here. Ms. Rivercity Trae Tha Truth & DJ Yerp Nothing But Tha Truth Trae Tha Truth has always delivered with his mixtapes and Nothing But Tha Truth is no exception. Trae matches his deep, throaty street-inspired rhymes with mostly borrowed beats. “Incredible” and the “Uptown” freestyle find Trae displaying his Hip Hop skills alongside friends such as Lil Wayne and Rick Ross. Where this mixtape falls short is with tracks that only have one Trae verse, leaving listeners with an unquenched Trae thirst. While this mixtape serves to hold fans down, right now it’s safe to say we all need this Asshole By Nature to drop his next full length. - Rohit Loomba Soulja Boy & DJ Holiday DatPiff The Mixtape Starting off with “Gully,” Soulja Boy preps listeners for some of the strongest material he’s released thus far. If a few freestyles and fillers were replaced with a couple more singles, this could almost serve as an album. DJ Holiday does a good job of balancing the catchiness of songs like “I Look Good,”“Swag Flu,” and “Poppin Tags” with aggressive bangers like “Hottest Rapper” and “Go Get Money.” Featuring the “Turnt Up” remix with Roscoe Dash and the Drake collab on “Play Ball,” this tape goes down as one of Soulja Boy’s most memorable moments. - Ms. Rivercity Sparkdawg, DJ Scream, DJ Ill Will & DJ Rockstar @Sparkdawgmusic Sparkdawg’s latest mixtape has quite a few bangers (“Drank N Dank,”“Skype Hype,”“No Relatioship,”“Gangstaz & Grindaz”). But for every banger, there’s a song that’s a bore (“We So On,”“O My,”“Feelin Myself,”“I’m on Fire,”). But @Sparkdawgmusic boasts good production and a long list of guest rappers (Chalie Boy, Trai’D, Gudda Gudda, Paul Wall, Lil Flip, Lil Wayne, Big Sean, Joell Ortiz and a gang of other rappers I don’t feel like naming), who often kill Spark on his own shit. But overall, Sparkdawg’s mixtape has plenty of tracks to check for. - Randy Roper Young Thad, Zaytoven, & DJ Smallz/Straight Out of P.A. Young Thad makes a memorable entrance with this Zaytovenlaced, street-themed compilation. Including his current single “Put Me In the Kitchen” featuring Gucci Mane, Straight Out of P.A. has several songs worth recapping. “Tools On Deck,”“Move that Work In,” and “Midget” ft. Yung Ralph are instant standouts, while “Purple Trax,” “Alphabet Boys,” and “Bubble Kush” make for good riding music. There’s room for improvement in Thad’s verse writing and technical recording skills, but his hook delivery and overall image is on point. - Ms. Rivercity
OZONE MAG // 79