Eight years have passed since the last edition, but Daniel Carrillo bka Termanology never gives up and returns once again to release a chapter of his successful mixtape series "Cameo King". Even though we are on his fourth effort, the boy releases a tape without numbering the edition, pressing five hundred copies of vinyl released by his own ST Records and by the independent label 1332 Records based in Boise, Idaho.
Production is provided by Statik Selektah, Shorftyuz, Amadeus 360, Termanology, Dame Grease, DJ Premier and Daringer. In rapping the author is supported by some of the heavyweights in the past and recent history of the genre, such as Raekwon and Method Man of Wu-Tang Clan, Sean Price of Heltah Skeltah, Lil' Fame of MOP, Styles P of The LOX, Conway & Benny the Butcher of Griselda, NORE of CNN, Kool G Rap of Juice Crew, Busta Rhymes, Action Bronson and Ransom.
The peculiarity of this edition compared to the previous ones lies in the fact that the selection of songs is made by digging into the Termanology discography: the songs are taken from "The Evening News EP" (2010), "Fizzyology" (2012), "GOYA" (2013), "Mas GOYA" (2014), "Bad Decisions" (2018), "Set in Stone" (2019) and "Determination" (2022), to which the previously unreleased "Bag It Up" and "Spit Real Game" are added.
The first is a collaboration between Carrillo and Benny the Butcher on a production by Termanology himself. The rhythm is very mild, bland, it's not saying anything. The main rapper sounds quite tasteless on this musical carpet. Poor hook. Benny also quite average, with no energy. The piece should be an easy winner, but instead it fails early. Similar story for the other track. Ransom spits hardcore over a sad production by Statik, with piano keys pounding from a rowdy drum, there's a scratched hook, Termanology closes without killing the cut.
This vinyl should be a must-have, I mean, they're all there. But it isn't. There's still too much Termanology to make it essential. The songs are all average and even the unreleased ones are hidden behind the dense veil of mediocrity, in particular "Bag It Up" disappoints me the most. Among the high notes "Let Ya Glock Burst" is heard: the choice pays homage to "Shook Ones 2" with the iconic production of Havoc and Prodigy, the beatmaker Amadeus directly takes Herbie Hancock's song. G Rap comes in and kills the beat just like Mobb Deep did 30 years earlier. The other guy isn't at that level, but he can't ruin the song, which is coincidentally an excellent closer to this disappointing vinyl. 5/10.
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