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.