Second in a long series of mixtapes that serve as a prelude to Raekwon's next album. Consisting of 23 short pieces for a total of about 45 minutes of listening, the tape combines numerous skits, freestyles, short excerpts and remixes of songs you've already heard elsewhere.
The disc is inaugurated by a skit from the movie "King of New York" (1990) and continues giving other hidden gems between the interludes (somewhere there's a tribute of about 1.5 seconds to "Welcome to Jamrock" by Damian Marley, for example), then "Flawless Crowns" is one of the best songs. Glossy boom bap, dirty dusty drum, light smooth horns, the rhythm is warm and enveloping, fantastic, perfect soundscape for Rae's flow, velvety as silk.
In the first part of the tape there are more or less questionable choices, but in general, Shallah Raekwon's rap is good on a series of good and solid rhythms up to another masterpiece, "New York!!". The cut is a remix of the AZ track: boom bap improved enough to make it sound decently, tight and lively dry drum machine, very dark and tense samples, dystopian mood, fantastic flow smoothness by AZ, Raekwon & Ghostface, which kill the beat. The next track is a short freestyle by Lex Diamonds, about half a minute, over the wonderful rhythm of Marvin Gaye's song of the same name. In the final section, there's room for RZA, GZA, Nas, and Busta Rhymes as well, but none particularly surprising, with Esco making a casual quote to Salinger in the middle of his verse. The tape ends with a relaxed rhythm and a good rap by Chef Raekwon reminiscent of the first part of the tape. Overall, it's a typical mid-2000s mixtape, never really feels needed. 6.5/10.
No comments:
Post a Comment