Logic — Young Sinatra [mixtape]

In 2011, Robert "Logic" Hall released his second mixtape, the one that launched his career. Before trap, before Bobby Tarantino, before supermarkets, before discount music, before Twitch, Robert Hall was also a rapper. A good rapper, perhaps not overly remarkable, but he was. The tape is made by his inner circle of friends, the production is mainly provided by 6ix and OB, while most of the guests are actually sampled from other songs.

On excellent and dirty boom bap rhythms, Logic spits tidy and solid lyrics in their simplicity, with a dedication and passion that he'll be able to preserve exclusively for his mixtape series "Young Sinatra", still one of the best of the two thousand and ten years, of which this effort is the forerunner. Here, he's easily at his peak, at his best: although the MC of Maryland doesn't excel too often in the lyric department, he has one of his best flows ever, he's fluid, clean, confident, enthralling, smoothness, with good metric patterns and a purely NY delivery style whose influences are evident, from Jay-Z to Nas, from G Rap to Biggie Smalls, which is honored several times over the course of over 72 minutes and 20 tracks (+ 2 skits). The sequel of "Growing Pains" is the finest track, hands down.

"Young Sinatra" is a decisive step forward from the previous work, Logic creates a timeless, practically classic mixtape, as well as being one of his finest, most solid and coherent projects, blessed with an impeccable production: in order to create a fresh, shiny and bright soundscape, the guys behind the keyboards sample different artists, from Frank Sinatra to Joanna Newsom, from James Brown to Lykke Ly, from Zombies to Paul Simon, to Esther Phillips, Kid Cudi, Erykah Badu, Madcon, Florence & the Machine, Shirley Bassey, Suzanne Vega, Black Eyed Peas, Boom Clap Bachelors, passing through several hip-hop gems including works by Lauryn Hill, Group Home, Outkast, Queen Latifah, Nas, Jay-Z, Moob Deep, Kanye West, Pimp C, Craig Mack, Dom Kennedy, Drake and Jay Electronica. Almost all of them are masterpieces, classic tracks used to create other classics, Logic goes strong on every kind of rhythm, from "Tom's Diner" to "Exhibit C", building a clear showcase of his still raw talent and publishing one of the strongest documents of the year. 8/10.