January 2, 2020. On this date, Westside Gunn decides to release his first mixtape, dating back exactly fifteen years before. It's a pretty interesting tape, because it's not exactly a rapper exclusive effort. 26 cuts, it seems immense, instead it has 9 skits, so in reality it reduces to 17 songs for a total of just over an hour. In addition to Westside Gunn, in this effort, among the first of what will be the future Griselda house, there are also Kannon (aka Conway), Benny, Cutter and above all a magnificent showcase for the talent of Machine Gun Black. This mixtape is the son of the influence of the late nineties, it draws from Mobb Deep and LOX passing by AZ, Nas and Jay-Z. The title is a tribute to Prodigy's "H.N.I.C" and features a good but generic jazzy production, several spot on soulful samples and raw, street, braggadocio and gangsta lyrics delivered with a smooth flow by basically all performers: it's one of the best efforts of 2005, I remember a few better ones (Kanye, Edan, "Be", "DANGERDOOM", "The Minstrel Show" and Quas) and if I go to look, few others can be added. Hidden between skits and freestyles, there are several raw pearls in this tape, I report a couple of them below.
Highlights: "'08 S**t", "How It Feel", "S.E. Gang Freestyle", "Benny and Machine Gun Blak Exclusive", "Kannon Exclusive", "Death Keep Callin Me", "Leezy Freestyle".
Rating: 8.2/10.
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