Ibn Young debuted in hip-hop in 1993 with this EP, released by independent under the name of Lil Fly (later known as Playa Fly; not to confuse with another rapper called Lil Fly, aka Gary Hudson, rapper from San Francisco, California), affiliated with the Three 6 Mafia and part of the group until 1995, when he left the group due to some disputes with the other members.
The rapper isn't to be confused with a homonymous; shortly thereafter, he changed his name to Playa Fly and continued a solo career. This tape is released by the producer, DJ Paul: his musical choice it's close to excellence, he provides a series of all simple, minimal and obscure rhythms, with excellent samples, an often a drum that's slow, syncopated and essential, perfect soundscape for the Lil Fly rapping style. The cassette is opened by a dark skit, very slow, syncopated skinny drum machine, the beat is let to breathe, dark, taut with single lines looped throughout the cut. It's followed by another similar beat, with an eccentric and vibrant syncopated drum machine and a tightly looped dark piano sample in the background, simple introductory hook and a single looped line throughout the cut. DJ Paul's mix here is excellent.
"Slangin' Rocks (Pt. 1)" is one of the highlights and arguably the best cut of this over half-hour product: dark, practically perfect rhythm, very slow, skeletal and syncopated drum, simple hook and slow syncopated delivery almost lazy of Lil Fly, somehow smooth; his delivery style allows a sort of dilation of the track, he makes the rhythm even darker, longer and heavier, virtually unlimited. The remaining tracks are good, but not at this level, from my point of view: the fourth choice is pretty simple in comparison, despite a good dark beat and honest delivery. "Kreepin' Out da Kut" features a violin sample and a tight looped piano sampled in the background, DJ Paul places a very slow, skinny and syncopated drum machine to facilitate the slow delivery of Lil Fly. "Anna Got Me Clickin' (Pt. 1)" is the last track on the tape before the outro: dark skinny production, slow-smoothness syncopated delivery by the rapper, another great work by DJ Paul behind the keyboards.
Being a self-produced tape that came straight from Memphis, it maintains its typical characteristics: the topics are mainly braggadocio, gangsta and horrorcore and not all bars are understandable due to the quality of the tape. But it's a good dark tape, recommended.
Rating: 7/10.
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