Trev Rich, Ace Hood & Bobo Norco

The Good:

Trev Rich - Heights 3

Hot damn was this a slow week. There were a couple major releases (if you even want to consider them major), but most of them were in the awkward zone between alright and bad. I actually had to search for Trev Rich's mixtape because nothing else did it for me.

But I'm glad I did find Rich's Heights 3, which, as the title makes obvious, is the third installment of his Heights series. I don't love Heights 3 but it's certainly a good listen.

The best part of Heights 3 is easily the production, headed by Brinky Beats. The wide range of beats on Heights 3 range from simplistic piano-based ballads to futuristic bass bumpers.

A solid example of the brilliant production on this mixtape is "Prayer," which also showcases one of the few features on the album in Leonna Harper. The piano-like synths and the bassy undertones show a Kanye West influence. This influence can especially be seen when Rich paraphrases Yeezy himself, rapping, "I had a dream I could buy my way to heaven / Then I woke up in this hell without a necklace."

There's also the incredibly complex "Go Get It" beat that uses insanely heavy synths and the occasional guitar to create the most hype-worthy beat on the album.

And while Rich is far from the best lyricist, he easily makes up for it in content.

50 ain't nothing but a P-I-M-P

"50 Told Me" might be the best song on the mixtape. Over a simple piano-based beat, Rich goes against the norm and paints pimping as an evil profession. Feminism aside, pimping is usually revered in the hip-hop community (see: Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent). However, Rich looks at it from all sides, as he highlights, "Either
you're pimping or you're getting pimped."

Overall, Rich does just enough to make him stand out from the rest of the hip-hop community without doing so much as to propel him to the next level. This makes Heights 3 an entertaining listen, but doesn't make it as memorable as it could be.

The Bad:

Ace Hood - Starvation 3

If I had to be honest, I loved "Bugatti." Easily one of my favorite party tracks in 2013. The only thing more surprising than Future's damn catchy hook was the fact that it belonged to Ace Hood.

I kind of forgot about Ace Hood up until that point. I mean, the last time I really listened to an Ace Hood song pre-"Bugatti" was "Top of the World," but that's just because it was in an NBA 2K game. But that game also featured LeBron James in a Cavs jersey, so that should give you an idea of just how long ago that was.

But now, with "Bugatti" in the books, I guess Ace Hood is once again relevant. After Starvation 3, though, I'd be surprised if that lasted much longer.

Khaled's just sad he's not the best anymore

Ace Hood just feels so old now. I mean, he's signed to Cash Money and DJ Khaled's We The Best labels. If that doesn't scream late aughties, I don't know what else could. He's just a holdover from the last generation of hip-hop. And he wasn't even that successful then!

I mean, listen to "Everyday." The Auto-Tune-heavy "banger" sounds like it could have easily been a T-Pain beat.

Hell, "Home Invasion" was even produced by Cool & Dre. The former hotshot producers produced only four--count 'em, four--commercially released songs in 2013. I mean, don't get me wrong, I used to love the duo. But there's a reason for their drop in production.

The song starts off nice, sounding like a Barry White track. And then it all of a sudden shifts into a hood beat that sounds like just about everything else Ace Hood does. No wonder Cool & Dre aren't around anymore.

I mean, there are a couple of decent songs. "Hip-hop" gets a soulful sample to make it interesting and "Buss Guns" gets a good sample from Mavado to give it a heavy reggae feel. But at the end of the day, Ace Hood's just stuck in the past. Which leads to this question for Ace Hood:

The Re-dic-yu-lus:

Bobo Norco - Keep It Up

Oh. My. God. I forgot how much I loved writing this part of Stack That Cheese over the past month. But thanks to Bobo Norco, I can love again!

Everything about Bobo Norco feels like it's fake. His Auto-Tune-heavy, bubbly techno sound brings back memories of nineties boy bands. His album cover makes him look like a Macy's mannequin trying to appeal to the "urban youth." Even his name, Bobo Norco, sounds like an Italian clown. I honestly love it. I can't stop typing it. Bobo Norco. It's so great!

Now, let's give a listen to the Backstreet Boys reject's mixtape, Keep It XO, a mixtape described as "visually stunning."

If you look closely, you can see Bobo in the back.

The Bay area "rapper" is definitely on the poppy side of hip-hop. But I'd hardly associate Kevin Federline Jr. with the genre.

K-Fed is proud of his
illegitimate son

"NLNF" is a good example of this confusion in Bobo's head. See, he seems to think just because he's not singing 100% of the time (it's more like 49%) that he's rap. He sprinkles in some typical rap topics like expensive clothes, guns and women, but it comes off as more hearsay than experience. Hell, the featured rapper (who's not mentioned) raps circles around Bobo and he sucks in his own way. It's not a hard task, though, when Bobo has a rhyme scheme of twelve-twelve-shells-twelve-shells.

"NLNF," by the way, is an acronym for No Lovers, No Friends which will be the name of his debut album out on March 3, which I will happily wait the next month and a half for.

And every song sounds like "NLNF" to a horribly scary degree. I mean, there's "You," which includes Bobo doing a disgusting Pharrell impression. Or "Funk Sweat Dope" where Bobo moves from 'N Sync to Black Eyed Peas, so that's improvement, I guess? But you'd be hard-pressed to find a good track on Keep It XO. That being said, I loved Keep It XO and I cannot wait for his album in March. Bring on the re-dic-yu-lus!

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