Stack That Cheese's Spooktacular

The Good:

The Kid Daytona - Savoir Faire

The Kid Daytona was born in Atlanta, from a Carribean background and raised in the Bronx. His style takes a lot of influence from many different styles and genres. He's a rapper with R&B beats and a smooth jazz feel. He's been around since 2002 and continues to grow.

Savoir Faire is a well-produced mixtape from an experienced rapper. While Daytona can deliver a good line here and there, it's his vast array of influences that really make the album good. Almost scary good. (Get it? Because it's Halloween? Gosh, I'm good.)

The Jack-yo-swag-o-lantern

One of the songs that best showcases Daytona's ability to tie so many styles together is "Damier Suitcases." Thanks to some guitar and bass, along with a few synths, the song is able to sound like Daytona went back in time when old-school rhythm and blues reigned supreme. This is thanks to producer 1up World.

Plus, former Clansman (the Wu-Tang kind) Raekwon shows up, as Daytona and him trade off verses. The rappers are on the same page the entire song, making the song into more of a collaboration than just a track with a guest feature. At the end of the first verse pairings, Daytona raps, "Rookie playing like Magic / No looks to Kareem" right before Raekwon comes in and raps, "In the ball room with Jordan / About to do unlimited kicks." Getting Raekwon on a track is an accomplishment in and of itself, but keeping up with him on said track is a whole new level.

1up World isn't the only quality producer on Savoir Faire. Gizzle Beatz produces just about every song on the album not produced by 1up. The ninth and tenth tracks are both produced by Gizzle and they both bring something new to the table for Daytona to work with.

"Dat Wave" combines old-school rap, thanks to the kids on the street samples that every rap aficionado should be used to by now, with some high-pitched synths. And "The Trinity" is easily the hardest hitting track on all of Savoir Faire. The bass bumps hard from the beginning, but by the end "The Trinity" is so ign'ant it's almost not fair.

Savoir Faire has something for everyone, but all of the styles are somehow tied together thanks to Daytona's ability to be a swiss army knife of rap. Daytona does a great job of hand-picking these tracks and producers, and he can easily play off any flow he wants, making for a plenty good mixtape.

The Bad:

Kid Red - REDemption

Who does this guy think he is? Making puns in the rap game is something only lowly bloggers like me can do. Is he trying to encroach on my territory? This is worse than when West-side rapper Kendrick Lamar claimed he was king of New York. (Yes, I just compared a bad pun to Kendrick's verse on "Control." Who gon' stop me, huh?)

I'll be honest, I've never heard of Kid Red, and based on his 25,000 Twitter followers, he's not a huge deal. But you wouldn't be able to tell based on REDemption. First, it's a partnership between Red and LA Leakers. If you're going to get anyone to host your mixtape in hopes of making a splash, the Leakers are the way to go.

And then there's the guests on this mixtape. They range from big shots who fell off to current big shots who always have been and always will be big shots. How Red got these guys is a mystery to me.

I just really like this picture

"Ready to Ride" features Sean Kingston. Yeah, I'm surprised he's still making music, too. Kingston actually sounds pretty good here, with less of the Jamaican gimmick that got him big and more suited for singing hooks. However, nothing really stands out here. Kingston sounds like almost any other hook singer, Red fails to really impress as a rapper and the beat is too bland.

Wiz Khalifa's on the next track. This time, the beat's actually semi-decent. It's not the most unique beat and could easily be found on just about any other mixtape, but it still works. But Khalifa's appearance feels just like that, an appearance. Sure he spits a verse, but it's lazy even for Wiz. And Red continues to just be adequate, with simple rhyme schemes and cliché lines.

And then Red, as average as they come, manages to get a hip-hop legend in Snoop Dogg/Snoop Lion/Snoopzilla on "My Money." this is probably one of the more interesting beats on the album, with some claps and heavy bass. But Red's flow sounds like it belongs on Nick Cannon's show Wild 'N Out instead of a track with Snoop Giraffe or whatever. And Snoop Kitten doesn't even deliver. I know he's not the same as he used to be, but he can do better than listing types of cars for a couple bars.

I'm convinced Kid Red had this coming to him for stepping on my turf. You want to see a real pun, Red. Oh, I'll give you a pun alright.

The RED-dic-yu-lus:

Redman - Remixxes

That's right. This mixtape isn't re-dic-yu-lus. It's RED-dic-yu-lus. Because Redman is dropping something more entartaining than any re-dic-yu-lus mixtape ever could be. Pun: achieved. 

Honestly, I can't tell how good or bad this is. As a critic, I shouldn't admit that. But my bias is raging hardcore because FUCKING REDMAN JUST RELEASED A MIXTAPE! And if just hearing Redman's voice isn't enough, hearing it over a Dead Prez track or a Jay-Z & Kanye beat should make you jump for joy. 

Anyone else remember
this show too well?

Honestly, I'm not a fan of remix releases. There's nothing lazier than taking beats made famous by other people and making them their own. But when you're half of one of the most famous hip-hop duos of all time, you can do whatever the hell you want.

Plus, this isn't just the hot tracks for the moment. There's no "Bugatti" or "Power Trip," like an amateur rapper might cover. These are some legitimate classics. These are the tracks Redman's probably always wanted to be on, and now he gets the chance. And frankly, I'm not going to try to stop him.

I went over the Dead Prez remix. Of course, that's gotta be "It's Bigger Than the Hip-Hop." You know the song. The classic song with one of the most distinguishable bass lines of all time that taught us all "the thing 'bout music / When it hit you feel no pain." Honestly, even the great Redman couldn't live up to the precedents on this song. Considering Dead Prez was talking about how crucial hip-hop was to the culture that followed it and Redman's talking about keeping his weed in a Zip Lock, it's not hard to see where the two differ. But Redman brings his own style and flow to the track and it works.

Nick Cannon's a lucky man.

Oh, is that too old-school for you? Do you need Redman to prove he can fuck with something a little more recent? What about Busta Rhymes' "I Know What You Want." Once again, my bias is all over the place. "I Know What You Want" is one of the first rap songs I remember. Mariah Carey's performance in that song is what fueled my awkward teenage years. So just hearing this all-too-familiar beat is enough for me to love it instantly.

Redman's booming voice and brilliant flow fits right in. Plus, Red can still spit, as he proves with the line, "Drop verbs and nouns / My suburban bourbon brown / Hitting your suburban town."

Oh, but that's still too old for you? And too much familiar territory for a rapper like Redman? What'll prove Redman's greatness to you? What if he raps over a song made famous by a former boy band member? Will that be good enough for you?

I certainly hope so, because on "Smoke Wit Me," Redman raps over Justin Timberlake's "Rock Your Body." Not only does he rap over the for 'N Sync star's beat, but he also shows off his pipes, singing his own hook. This is just proof of how entertaining this mixtape is.

Remixxes isn't supposed to be Redman's real stuff, though, as it was really just released to set the stage for his upcoming mixtape. But I'm not going to complain, because it's as entertaining as anything any new rapper can produce. Long live Redman.

Kimye Day

Before I get started, I just want to say congratulations to Kanye West and Kim Kardashian on their recent engagement. Hopefully, the next time Kanye googles himself, he comes across this and knows that the hip-hop blog community loves him and wishes him luck. Or he just notices me. That'd be pretty awesome.

The Good:

Big Sant - The Great American Mattress Sale

Big Sant is a Mississippi rapper who definitely represents the Southern feel. I mean, his Facebook page says he's "0% bitch!" If that's not Southern rap, then I don't know what is.

The Great American Mattress Sale is noticeably different from a lot of the rap out there straight from the get-go. It has a handful of goofy skits that sound like commercials for, you guessed it, a mattress sale. This gives the mixtape a fun vibe to it.

If only Sant had an actual
gospel choir.

But this playful attitude follows into the songs. Sant has a lot of fun with the beats. There's some pretty big funk and gospel influences on here and Sant's not afraid to unleash a few freestyles.

Normally, I'm not a big fan of freestyles on mixtapes and albums. These should be treated as a platform for an artist's best work that they spent countless hours putting together. But Big Sant manages to put together some pretty good bars over some well-thought out beats.

"Numbers" is a freestyle that is actually one of Big Sant's best performance on the album. The fact that lines like "She looking for a trick / It ain't under my sleeve, darling" came off the top of his head just makes it more impressive. Plus, the beat is a banger thanks to its bass and creative use of percussion.

"Full Time Hustler" is one of his more Southern songs. The beat is composed of some funky bass slapping and a tambourine with a chorus sung by Sant himself. Plus, the idea of being a hustler is something that a Mississippi rapper almost has to embrace.

And if we're talking Mississippi rap, it's hard not to bring up names like Big K.R.I.T., David Banner and Tito Lopez. Luckily for the listener, all these soulful Southerners appear on one track, "Fire Water II."

This has to be the mixtape's stand out song. The beat, produced by David...David...David Banner, is one of those beats that needs to be blasted in a car going 15 in a 25, driver nodding his head and clutching the steering wheel with only one hand. And Sant, Lopez and K.R.I.T. all deliver in their performances. K.R.I.T. especially comes through. Even among other talents, K.R.I.T. still seems like a rap god with his freaky fast flow.

Big Sant puts together a really good mixtape with The Great American Mattress Sale that should put him into any conversation about modern Southern rap, and manages to have fun while doing it.

The Bad:

Mann - The Expansion Tape

The only thing that bothers me more than bad rap is bad rap that could be good with just a little extra effort. That's really just the best summary of The Expansion Tape that I can give, honestly.

Where The Expansion Tape falters is Mann's lyrics. He has an alright flow--a bit like Big Sean. But his rhymes just don't live up to the potential that his mixtape has.

Any semblance of potential comes from the beats that he gets for The Expansion Tape. Most mixtapes have one or two main producers with maybe a couple extra sprinkled into the mix. Mann decides to go a totally different route, managing to get some production from multiple sources and most of it is pretty good.

"Barbie Girl" meets rap on
"Hooked on Phonics."

"Hooked on Phonics" is produced by Laze & Royal. They give the track an early 2000s electronic pop feel thanks to a sample of a bubbly female vocalist. Paired with some hip-hop drums and synths, this sample becomes a legitimate beat. But Mann makes the song less listenable with his lyrics, where he rhymes words like "bull shit," "took it" and "crooked." His flow makes up for it a bit, but not enough to salvage the track.

"Rather Dream," produced by Sounds (dumb name for a good producer) is a slow jam that gets gradually more "bumping," as the kids say, thanks to some interesting toned-down synths. But once again, Mann stays with an overly simplistic rhyme scheme and it lowers the entertainment value yet again.

"Love is Back" is one of the more interesting beats I've heard as of late, sampling little kids singing and pairing it with a simple piano riff. Plus, tone Oliver shows up to provide a decent verse, especially compared to Mann. I'd even go so far to say that not even Mann could ruin this song.

With just a little extra effort on his lyrics, Mann could've made a good mixtape. He managed to get some borderline great production, but he's just not ready to live up to that same level. Mann's definitely worth keeping an eye on, because if he improves even a little, he could be extremely entertaining. But for now, he's still got some improving to do.

The Re-dic-yu-lus:

Young Sam - Wake & Bake

Look at this. The rapper. The title. The cover. Everything about this screams cliché stoner rap.

I originally had him as just bad. But I had to downgrade him. This shit stank!

Imagine being there for the conversation that led to his name.

"Hey dude, what should my name be?"

"It should probably reflect who you are as a person. Let's see, your name is Sam. You're still pretty young. You..."

"Wait. I got it! Young Sam!"

"Brilliant!"

Or what about the idea of this mixtape?

I'm not positive, but I think
Young Sam smokes this.

"Ok, now with this mixtape, I want to get across the idea that I smoke weed."

"How do you expect to do that?"

"I was thinking naming it after a common stoner phrase."

"Good idea, but what if it's not obvious enough?"

"Then the cover will show me smoking weed with a massive bag of dank to my side."

"You did it again, Sam!"

I'm exaggerating a bit, but after listening to Wake & Bake, I don't think I'm too far off.

Based on the comments on this mixtape, it's clear I have the same idea as a lot of people on the internet--he's Wiz without any hint of talent.

He definitely can't rhyme. In fact, the very first line of the mixtape on the title track freestyle (see why I don't usually like freestyles on albums?) goes, "Raised in the streets where those niggas talk weak / 911 can't save nobody." I mean if he had anything that remotely sounded like flow, he might be able to make that line work. But I'd be surprised if Young Sam had rhythm, let alone flow.

Sometimes, he'll try to make up for this with Auto-Tune, like on "Pornstar." But the Auto-Tune is so obvious and obnoxious that I wouldn't be surprised if he made this track on Fruity Loops. (Normally, I would put a picture of a pornstar in PG-13 attire to get some extra views from my pervert fans, but I'm in the library writing this and that's a little low even for me.)

Drake's crying after hearing Young
Sam's rendition of his track.

The worst thing about Wake & Bake is that he doesn't just stick to ruining his own amateur beats--he takes perfectly good songs and ruins them with what he calls rapping. Just check out "Wu Tang Forever" to see what I mean.

Stoner rap isn't my favorite subgenre by any means. In fact, I've gone on the record bashing the modern poster child for it. But it can be done well. Young Sam, though, does not do it justice by any definition of the word.

-X-Prime, dropping the mic for now.

@XavierVeccia

Love Sosa

The Good:

Eddie B - The Johnny Utah Story

Hol' up! Eddie B's new mixtape is pretty great, with some top notch instrumentals and some seriously clever lyrics, but there's more important matters at hand.

Chief Keef released a mixtape on Saturday entitled Almighty So. I was going to review that no matter what today, and I still will, but today, Chief Keef did something so unbelievable even for him, I just had to write about it.

Just six hours ago from the time of writing this, Sosa himself took to Instagram and took a screenshott of a note that read, "Getting myself ready to get locked up ! Love everybody that rocks with the So & Da Glo." What?

An hour later, Keef took back to Instagram, informing his followers that he was headed to court to turn himself in.

Then he shared this beautiful picture, which had the caption, "Outside The Court House Turnin My Self In But Fuck It I Got Niggas Facing More Then That ! For Shit Like killin Police officers."

Let's not focus too much on the fact that Chief Keef has multiple friends who are in jail for killing cops or that, at 18, this is not the Chicago rapper's first trip to the big house. Instead, let's look at how he went about this "announcement" of his.

It's honestly fascinating. Keef is using the surprise social media tactics that others are using to announce new singles, mixtapes or even albums. Plus, he's being alarmingly casual about this whole thing.

It's this kind of stuff that gives rap a bad name. The glorification of misbehavior and tomfoolery (yes, I purposefully tried to sound like a stay-at-home parent) is exactly what keeps rap from reaching higher levels of brilliance.

If Chief Keef is one of the biggest rappers in the world right now and he's pulling these stunts, what does that say about hip-hop as a whole?

And yet, I can't help but walk away kind of impressed. He released a mixtape three days ago. And this was less than three months after releasing the tape Finally Rich. He didn't have to do this so soon. And yet as his jail date neared, he decided to drop a whole new collection of songs for the fans.

This can be read in multiple different ways. One, this was just a weird coincidence. Two, he dropped this tape so that interest in it would rise as soon as he went back to jail. Three, he did this all for his fans. Aside from the first option, this stunt of his makes it seems like he actually knows what he's doing.

Since then, it's been revealed that Chief Keef is going to jail for a probation violation involving marijuana and that he'll only be there for twenty days tops. This seems like a very small amount of time to get this much detail, but I find this decision of Keef's to be fascinating no matter the results. And I'm writing this blog, so I can do whatever I want. (Bang! Bang!)

Now let's get to the review.

The Bad:

Chief Keef - Almighty So

I think I can probably skip the intro about who Chief Keef is considering I just wrote multiple paragraphs on the dude, which is good because I'll probably just get carried away if I continue to do so.

Almighty So is classic Chief Keef. And by that I mean I can't really understand him and when I can, it's not really worth it.

Take the song "Ape Shit" for example. He opens up the song by saying "girl" multiple times and rhyming "house" with itself. And I'm pretty sure he spends the rest of the song with peanut butter in his mouth because it's all just noise to me. Luckily, the beat isn't too bad. It's a bit generic for the most part, but there's this sample of a voice saying vowels that's heavily distorted and used throughout the song that I kind of like.

Another pretty decent beat paired with poor lyrics is "I Kno." It's kind of got this bubbly yet epic feeling to it, using synths and strings to give it this joyful feeling. But it also provides the answer to the age old question, "Could Chief Keef get any worse?" The answer is apparently yes, through Auto-Tune.

Surprisingly, Chief Keef shows a kernel of intelligence in "Self" when he opens up saying, "They want the old Sosa / For what though? / That's a crazy low down dirty cut throat." This makes it seem that even Chief Keef is aware that some parts of his past are nothing to be proud of. However, he quickly goes back to rapping about money and lean.

I don't think Chief Keef will ever be good. He can occasionally create a true banger. In fact, I will admit that I've been known to bump to "I Hate Being Sober" from time to time. There are some songs on Almighty So that I could imagine listening to when I'm in a more ig'nant mindset, but they're still plagued with Sosa's horrible flow and lyricism.

So, I guess in conclusion, it's safe to say Almighty So is on the list of "shit I don't like." *drops mic* *jumps into crowd* *surfs crowd for an infinity and a half*

-X-Prime, dropping the mic for now

@XavierVeccia

Beastcoast

The Good:

CJ Fly - Thee Way Eye See It

I apologize for how much I've been raving about the new East Coast movement as of late. Thanks to recent mixtapes from Flatbush Zombies and MeLo-X, along with the constant prominence of Joey Bada$$ and A$AP Rocky, the reemergence of the East Coast movement has been one of the more intriguing themes of hip-hop to date.

So, it's only fitting that East Coaster CJ Fly's mixtape be covered.

The poster child of beastcoast
himself, Joey Bada$$

CJ Fly is a member of Pro Era, aka Joey Bada$$ & Co. If anyone's to be credited with bringing the beastcoast movement to the mainstream, it's these guys. Their blend of jazz and hip-hop plays like classic hip-hop despite being from a group of teenagers who weren't even coherent when this style ruled the scene.

It's honestly quite inspiring. These guys are proving the uneducated rapper stereotype wrong by being fluent in complex musical styles and history.

On Thee Way Eye See It, CJ Fly makes the case that Pro Era is more than just Joey Bada$$'s crew. And the message is heard loud and clear. (Not to mention, this is one of the coolest album covers I've ever seen.)

"Emcee" is a perfect example of just how mature he is for a youngin'. The beat features a jazz-like keyboard and a nice mixture of bass and hi-hats while his flow sounds almost Fugees-like. And the chorus sounds like a classic Biggie theme, as he raps, "They care about the fame, all I wanted was a name / Dreaming big ever since I was a shorty."

Thee Way Eye See It also brings in some big names to help CJ Fly become more than just a member of Pro Era. Ab-Soul is featured on the song "Sadderdaze," which has such amazing sound production that I almost took off my headphones because I thought the horns blaring were outside my window.

CJ Fly shows his mastery of the English language when he says, "My pros, they killing it, know that and peep the forensics / Probably I'd investigate us and my f-riends sick." And when the beat changes to some funky guitar and Ab-Soul spits out, "Heaven knows that we're living in hell / But I cherish every day that we live and inhale," you're reminded just why he's so coveted for these guest verses.

And of course, you can't have a Pro Era mixtape without Bada$$ himself. That track, entitled "Sup Preme," comes at the tail end of this mixtape, but it's worth the wait. Once again over a jazz-fueled beat, Joey Bada$$ brings a scary good verse that includes the beautifully poetic verse, "Reminisce 'til I receive / Electricity resonance / I know some evil residents under sediments / Root of all evil, dead presidents."

Rap gets a lot of criticism for being nowhere as good as its golden years, especially in the mainstream. But the reemergence of the East Coast movement makes the criticism seem unnecessary and give hope for the future of rap. CJ Fly proves on Thee Way Eye See It that he is part of that future.

The Bad:

Young A.C. - Barchetta 166

And just like that, I'm a little less hopeful for rap. Granted, I actually had to go through Datpiff for this because the HotNewHipHop mixtapes were all pretty good this week, but that doesn't mean I should be less wary of the future.

Young A.C. is a Florida rapper who, according to his Facebook, draws influences from Andre 3000, Lil Wayne and CeeLo. Based on the bad tag that comes with Barchetta 166, I'll leave it to you cheeseheads to decide which one of those three artists he actually took to heart.

Barchetta 166 is classic dirty Southern rap, and I don't mean that as a compliment.

"Don't Even" is a good example of where Young A.C. comes from. Honestly, he sounds like a lot of mainstream rappers, but, once again, that's not a compliment. The beat is centered on bumping basses that show exactly what he's trying to accomplish on this song: the ability to be a mainstay in a person's ride. And his lyrics are, well, let's just say he's lucky "nigga" rhymes with itself.

Bugatti: The coolest bed you'll ever
wake up in.

"No Way" has the biggest feature of the album (Ace Hood) and is a little more interesting than "Don't Even." The bass has partially been replaced by some kicks and claps, and the underlying beat has a bit of a Latin flare played on the keyboard. But A.C.'s struggle with his lyrics is made even more evident when Ace Hood of all people puts together a much better verse. I guess this is why Ace Hood wakes up in a Bugatti and A.C., well, doesn't.

A.C. can be a little fun, though. For whatever reason, I actually kind of like the song "Prove It." Its heavy Auto-Tune usage is a major turn-off, but it's got a bit of a Chingy-like feel to it. It reminds me of when I cared less about lyrics and complete originality (which is clearly not a good thing), but it still hit a soft spot inside me.

A.C. actually isn't bad for his style, but if you're a regular reader of mine, you know I am by no means a fan of this type of hip-hop. If he works on his rhymes, he could be an artist to watch.

The Re-dic-yu-lus:

Waka Flocka - From Roaches to Rolex

Waka!

This is honestly so exciting. I love Waka in the worst ways. He's right underneath Lil B in my list of favorite bad rappers. When I first heard he was working with Amanda Bynes, I just about reached nirvana. (Too bad she ended up in a mental hospital, because that would've been amazing.)

Even though the Amanda Bynes thing didn't work out as well as just about everyone hoped it would, Waka's new project is just as exciting as one could hope. There's love (if by "love" you mean "bitches"), action (if by "action" you mean "shit talking") and drama (if by "drama" you mean...wait, there's actually drama.)

Hey bitch. I love it when your
pussy tight.

First, the love. That comes on "Heavyweight," which has a hook of "All my bitches bad / All my hoes straight." What a romantic! The beat is basically the same as any other Waka beat. You know how it goes. And overdose of bass. Random screaming in the background. Random synths just to add texture. And the lyrics are mostly just Waka rhyming one-syllable words with each other when he wants, and babbling whenever he's not rhyming.

But the love, oh, the love is real. When he raps "Fuck that pussy right / Love it when that pussy tight," I just get goosebumps, butterflies and the sudden urge to get a pint of ice cream and watch The Notebook.

The action comes in "Running Them Lips," which is really just Waka repeating "bitches running their lips" for most of the song. I guess if you're into hearing only four words for most of a song, this would be a pretty exciting find. But that just doesn't interest me much.

Why must good things come to an end?

And the drama, that actually comes from by far the most important track on the mixtape, "Ice Cream Cone," which is a diss track directed towards Gucci Mane. For those who don't know, the Waka-Gucci beef has been one of the biggest feuds in recent years. Gucci and Waka used to be frequent collaborators, but have fallen out since then and their beef is often in the public eye (usually on Twitter).

"Ice Cream Cone" is Waka's first Gucci diss track, despite the latter taking plenty of shots at the former over the years. Waka makes up for lost time, saying, "When I met Gucci, I thought I met a real nigga / Until he crossed the line, then he became a fuck nigga" and "Used to be my nigga, now you're jealous. Where the love at? / No loyalty, you put money over all that," plus so much more.

It's definitely entertaining to see these two subpar rappers take shots at each other, but it's worth noting that this feud is one of the more interesting in recent memory, and for that, we thank you.

I don't really have to sum up Waka's horribleness. So, I won't. Just know that's he's really bad, but he's also really entertaining.

-X-Prime, dropping the mic for now

@XavierVeccia

Cheese Week

I'm not really sure if cheese week is a real thing. Not in the slightest. But one of my friends treats it as such and now I've started. I mean, if I have a blog called Stack That Cheese, I probably should celebrate it. And by "celebrate," I mean make a lot of bad cheese-related puns.

The Grate:

Vic Mensa - Innanetape

Ahh! See what I did there? God, I'm clever.

But puns aside, this mixtape is legitimately great. Easily one of the best mixtapes I've heard all year. Actually, scratch that. Innanetape is one of the best albums of any genre released in 2013. Maybe in two months, when I'm compiling my top albums of the year list, I'll feel differently. But for now, I'm sticking to my statement.

Vic Mensa is a Chicago rapper who has gotten a lot of extra hype since Chance the Rapper (whose Acid Rap featured Mensa) has become the talk of the town. And honestly, Mensa might be just as good as Chance, which is saying so much considering Acid Rap has gotten a lot of early love for album of the year.

Like, I really miss this show

Just like Chance, Mensa is insanely creative. The Windy City rappers are like Walter White and Jesse Pinkman and their music is their blue meth (I'm sorry, I just really miss Breaking Bad).

Take the song "Lovely Day." First, this song is the closest thing to Outkast that I've heard since, well, Outkast left me. Seriously, if we can't have Big Boi and Andre 3000 work together anymore, "Lovely Day" is a pretty good compromise.

The song starts off with two beautiful verses with a catchy hook shoved in between before putting together the most amazing outro in a while. There are horns. There are some synths. There's even a sample of James Blake's "The Wilhelm Scream." On another James Blake note, I'm pretty sure the cover for Innanetape was influenced by Blake's self-titled album. Yet another reason to love Mensa.

Chance on the cover of
Complex

And speaking of Chance, he makes an appearance on the song "Tweakin." Starting with some electronic drum hits, the beat quickly gets covered with some disoriented sounds that on first listen can be confusing, but quickly grow on the listener.

And Chance makes this friendly rivalry competitive as he raps, "I think the Illuminati is real / And your body's the peel and your soul is the fruit / And their goal is to steal and control all the juice."

Mensa can certainly have some fun, but he also doesn't shy away from more down-to-earth songs, as shown on "Holy Holy," which is about the very producer of this song, Killa Cam's passing. Mensa asks some seriously introspective questions like, "What would my obituary be? / How would they color me in the media?" before remembering Cam.

Ab-Soul makes a heart shattering feature, too, as he reflects over his girlfriend Alori's suicide. "I kept my Metro PCS with all our text messages / As evidence that I was thinking holy matrimony," he raps.

Innanetape is yet another sign of how much creative talent is coming out of Chicago. The worst part about this tape being so goddamn good is that I'm going to have to put so much more thought into my top albums of the year come December. But that's a pretty good problem to have.

The Not So Gouda:

Meek Mill - Dreamchasers 3

That's right, I've made not one, but two brilliant puns. Stack Those Puns, am I right?

I really wanted to write a review on Innanetape like I did with King Remembered in Time back in April. But when a mixtape trends on Twitter, like Meek Mill's latest, I kind of have an obligation to cover it.

Next, I had to figure out just how I felt about Dreamchasers 3. I've never really liked Mill all that much. To be honest, I still don't. But he's one of the hottest rappers in the game and there's a reason for that.

Remember, the masses used to
like Soulja Boy. 

But, time and time again, we're reminded that the masses don't always know what's best. Meek Mill's another proof for that.

Now, here on Stack That Cheese, we've been able to have some fun. We've been able to recognize that good rap doesn't necessarily have to have meaningful lyrics or clever wordplay. There's also an art to hype beats that pump up a crowd.

But Meek Mill just doesn't do anything for me. For a rapper that's being talked about so much, Meek Mill is actually pretty generic.

Take the song "Dope Dealer." On paper it seems like it should be good. It features Ricky Ross the boss and Nicki Minaj, so this is a Top 40 type lineup. But it just fails to impress me. An artist of Mill's caliber should be able to afford greater production. But "Dope Dealer" just sounds like it could be on just about any "Bad" mixtape.

Ahh! Real Rick Ross!

And the lyrics do the same thing. At one point, Mill is just rhyming Chanel bag with Chanel swag and Chanel tag. Pretty complex stuff, clearly. And Rick Ross has a line in which he says, "Philly brothers, sometimes call me 'Ahh!'" What?

I mean there are some pretty decent songs on Dreamchasers 3. "Lil Nigga Snupe" reflects on the passing of Mill's friend Lil Snupe. The beat's pretty tame, with a drum kit and calming synth. And Mill even has some good lines, like "I'll give all this money to get lil cuz back / Before my nigga go starving like where my grub at."

And "Heaven or Hell" samples Luniz's "I Got 5 on It." I mostly just really love the hook sung by Guordan Banks. Banks has this Colin Munroe-like voice and it's pretty catchy.

But even those tracks still are composed of some simplistic lines and beats that fail to really stand out. Hell, "Heaven or Hell" is basically just "I Got 5 on It." And that's probably the best beat on the whole tape.

Dreamchasers 3 is yet another mixtape from Meek Mill that really fails to grab my attention. But he's managed to get quite a following from this style of his, so I'm probably going to end up listening to most of what he releases.

The Limburger:

VP -  It Happens II

I'm a little ashamed of this. 1) I couldn't come up with a pun for re-dic-yu-lus. How can I call myself a pun expert when I can't even make one simple pun? 2) I just broke an ACRN blogging rule. If you haven't noticed, I usually link to my pictures. But I could do this for this mixtape cover. 

As you can see I've decided to cover a certain part of the girl with Lil B's face. There's a reason for that. And now that my mom has officially started reading my blog (I'm single, ladies), I need to at least make this stuff kind of decent.

Self-five again for STC's first gif!

But at least I found a really bad mixtape and made it even dumber with a little help from Lil B. High-five, me!

I actually liked It Happens II for about fifteen seconds. It was on the track "Back Bend (Bounce)," which has a pretty fun beat. I was like, "Hmm, this could be good if this VP guy delivers lyrically." But surprise, surprise, he didn't.

VP starts rapping in a storm of horribleness, shout/mumbling, "All the girls do it like this / Pop some pussy on some dicks." And actually, the more I hear this beat, I'm pretty sure this is from something else. Making this song completely useless.

But VP does manage to get some good beats. Whether or not these are his is hard to tell considering there's absolutely no information about him on datpiff. But at the very least, it shows he has some good taste in beats.

Like "Repeat." It has a piano-based beat with some soothing bass. But VP ruins it with his unique quality of being completely impossible to understand. In the second verse, I swear he says "shibuhdibuhding." Really.

But something tells me that it wouldn't make any difference even if I could understand him. He's far from a lyrical mastermind. Hell, Meek Mill runs circles around him. But, if he works on his flow and lyrics, he could manage to make a half-decent mixtape someday. Too bad those are huge ifs.

-X-Prime, dropping the mic for now

@XavierVeccia