King Los, Soulja Boy, Waka Flocka

The Good:

King Los - Zero Gravity II

Last year, Los evolved into King Los on one of the better mixtapes of 2013, Becoming King. And following typical Los fashion, the Baltimore rapper released yet another mixtape after big career news. This time around, it's his departure from Diddy's (or Puff Daddy's?) Bad Boy Records.

King Los has been signed to Bad Boy twice, once under Bloc Incorporated and the second and latest deal with Interscope Records. According to Los, this past deal ended because of problems with Interscope, not Bad Boy. But either way, this could mean dire news for Los.

Luckily for the king, it has yet to affect him too much. Zero Gravity II is just about as good as his last.

As always, King Los delivers on just about every verse. The "Control Freestyle" track is the perfect example of this. The Big Sean song turned Kendrick Lamar vehicle is the perfect beat for a lyricist like Los. Changing tempos multiple times and constantly having bars as hot as "I write a verse in reverse that reverses the Earth's spin" make the listener forget this song ever belonged to another spitter. Plus, he proves to be a merciful king, ending the song by complimenting some of the best rappers out there.

And production, per usual, is on point for the most of ZG2. "Hard Time" heavily samples Suzanne Vega's "Tom's Diner" (which can also be heard in Kevin Cossom's "I Get Paper"). The slowed down sample deserves some head-bobbing with every listen and Kobe, Mark Battles and Shanica Knowles stop by for dynamite features.

That being said, there are some slight problems if you're nitpicking. With the Bad Boy breakup comes less connections which leads to less features. On Becoming King, everyone from Pusha T to Wiz Khalifa to Puff himself stopped by for guest spots. Granted, the themes of the mixtapes are different and Los is more than fine on his own, but some of the features on the last go-around were quite entertaining and they will be missed.

And of course, there's the constant problem with King Los: his lack of formula. Los has always been a fantastic lyricist, and it's that skill that allows him to get away with this issue. But if Los would get away from the Auto-Tune-heavy hooks and the heavy use of freestyles over other rapper's songs, he might be able to be more successful. Once again, I doubt that's Los' worry, especially since he just left his biggest supporter in Puff. But it does keep him from reaching his fullest potential.

King Los is hardly in any danger of losing his throne any time soon, even if it has left the Bad Boy Kingdom. He's still as good of a lyricist as ever and will be for a long time. And who knows, maybe the extra creative freedom will lead him to grow as an artist and maybe even release a real album. Maybe.

The Re-dic-yu-lus 1:

Soulja Boy -  King Soulja 2

That's right, homies! We have two re-dic-yu-lus mixtapes this week! Oh my lawd, I'm so excited, not even snow in spring could stop me.

The first re-dic-yu-lus mixtape is almost too old. Soulja Boy's King Soulja 2 was released a week ago, but I'm going to allow it because I love hating Soulja.

I mean, there's just so much to not like! Take the song "In Love With Me." It starts out alright with a half decent beat that I could probably get into if, say, Vic Mensa was behind it. With some decent lyrics and any resemblance of a flow, this might actually be a good song.

But Soulja Boy doesn't have either of those things. Soulja doesn't even default to his go-to yell/sing "flow," but instead just abuses Auto-Tune to the point that the listener can barely even understand him.

Then there's the remix of Drake's "We Made It" just in time for the Jay Electronica and Jay-Z to scorch it in their version. Not even the Drake feature could save this track. The OVO artist is too "Versace Versace" on this one, where Electronica and HOVA are real, unfiltered rap.

And then there's the ultimate piece of Based music: a feature from Lil B. I could write an entire post about this song, titled "I Got That Sack," alone. I mean, Lil B and Soulja Boy? In the same song? It's March! That's way too early for Christmas!

"I Got That Sack" is everything you could ever want from the duo. There's a repetitive beat, plenty of awesome ad libs on Based God's part and the line "Ohio girls make that pussy work the same way." He doesn't even clarify what he means by "same way!" But you got a shout out regardless, Ohio girls, and you should celebrate that!

Sadly, no amount of Based God features could save King Soulja 2. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wish Soulja would return to "Crank That" form.

Wow. That's just embarassing.

The Re-dic-yu-lus 2:

Waka Flocka - Re-Up

Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!

Young Thug is on a song! I love him. I love him so much. I can't stop. It's an addiction, I realize, but oh my God, I can't stop. He's gonna save this bitch like Danny Glover! What's not to love!?

Okay, calm down there, Xavier. You're getting out of hand.

Deep breath.

Okay, I'm good. But yeah, this Waka tape is quite a treat. Actually, I do have to say I've grown to like Waka a little bit since getting more into the current Atlanta movement. Don't get me wrong--I still don't really like him by any means (besides the ironic way that makes me seem more hip). But guys like Young Thug and Young Scooter certainly owe guys like Waka for helping develop this new Southern sound.

That being said, this mixtape is still mostly crap. The Young Thug feature, coming in the form of a hook and a verse on "Ain't No Problems," is certainly a bright spot. The song sounds vaguely like Tech N9ne, which has never been quite my style, but is better than Waka's usual sound. And Waka and Thugger have pretty decent chemistry.

There's also "Cook Jug," featuring Young Scooter. And while the beat is as generic as generic can get, one can always count on Young SCOOOOTA to get ig'nant.

But then you're left with songs like "Lottery," where Flocka is alone, and you remember why Waka is reserved for times of ignorance. Somewhere between the multiple "Squad" shouts and the random laser synth, the listener is left wishing there was more Thug or Scooter. Granted, I think that on every song, but especially so with Waka Flocka.

Welcome Back

It's always hard saying goodbye to one of your favorite artists. Or least favorite artists. Or your pet bird that your mom made you get rid of. (I don't know from experience, but I imagine it's about the same thing.) Luckily, this week on Stack That Cheese, I get to welcome back one of my favorite rappers and one of my least favorite rappers who I thought were gone for good. (No pet birds, though. Sorry for getting your hopes up.)

The Good:

Hoodie Allen - Crew Cuts

As a broke college kid who frequently listens to mixtapes, it's always rough when an artist you listened to from his beginning stages starts making legitimate albums. Because you enjoy him. You have all of his mixtapes. But as soon as he releases that first album, you realize you're faced with two options: you could either continue supporting him and fork up the fifteen dollars, or you can give up on him. (You can also take a sail to the bay of pirates, but I totally don't do that.)

Just so you know, "the bay of
pirates" is not in Somalia,

Hoodie Allen is that kind of artist. I have almost everything he's done, even Making Waves. He was one of my favorite rappers for a while. But as soon as he dropped All American, I was faced with that same dilemma. The fact that he took on a poppier feel just made it more difficult. 

Usually when an artist makes that jump from mixtape rapper to album rapper, they're gone for good. Or if they ever do come back, it's with a subpar mixtape because they save all their best stuff for the albums that actually make them money.

But Hoodie Allen is better than that. He gets me. He understands my dilemma and he's making it so I never have to make that hard decision that would probably lead to me abandoning him. (I'm really broke, guys.) He's making it so I can have my "Cake" and eat it, too. (It's funny because one of his songs on Crew Cuts is called "Cake Boy." The only thing funnier than puns is explaining them, right?)

And Hoodie comes through on his first mixtape since July 2011. In fact, I might even enjoy it more than All American.

For one thing, he's more experimental on Crew Cuts than he was on his album. "Cake Boy" might be his most experimental song ever. The beat is comprised mostly of deep bass and pots and pans. That's right, pots and pans. For a pop rapper, "Cake Boy" is pretty indie. 

The other things that makes Crew Cuts so good are the features on it. "Two Lips" is another one of the best songs on the album and it's in due in large part to the featuring of OCD: Moosh and Twist (who released a song earlier this week entitled "All Alright," which sounded a lot like a Hoodie track and now I know why). And "Fame Is For Assholes," a song which earned a quality music video earlier this week, features Chiddy of Chiddy Bang, another mixtape rapper who made the switch to albums, making the song even sweeter. Hoodie also manages to get features from Shwayze and G-Eazy, among others.

Hoodie's been better than he is on Crew Cuts, but it's definitely a refreshing listen for any Hoodie fan and it shows he hasn't gone completely mainstream, yet, which is always good.

The Bad:

Birdman - Rich Gang: All Stars

If you had come up to me within the past few years and told me that Birdman was dead, I would have believed you without even having to Google it. That's how irrelevant he's been. But now he's back with a G.O.O.D. Summer-like collaborative mixtape, heavily featuring the artist he frequently collaborates with.

Rich Gang: All Stars is actually more of a compilation album, but the idea is similar to that of G.O.O.D. Summer in the way that it tries to showcase the talent surrounding Birdman. It says a lot, however, that Birdman could only put together a compilation mixtape, whereas Kanye can release a critical success of an album with his crew. Remember when Birdman was not only relevant, but not far from the top of hip-hop royalty? Back when he could just put Lil Wayne and Drake on a song and hit platinum? Now he's so far down the food chain that he can get his so-called "all-stars" together and barely make a ripple. 

There are actually some pretty good songs on All Stars. For instance, Drake's single that sent every rapper into the recording studio, "Started From the Bottom," is the first song on this mixtape. It's one of the better Drake songs since he signed with Young Money. Reminds me of the old Drake, when he was a rapper before anything else. But even that song is old news and not made because of Birdman.

Don't think you can share this with Weezy.

The song immediately following it is definitely more suited to a Birdman mixtape, though. It's called "Awkward" and it's by Birdman's protege himself, Lil Wayne. I'm honestly proud of myself as a music fan because I'm so appalled by Lil Wayne now. I really liked Carter III when it came out, but it hasn't really held up. And almost everything since that has been complete and utter garbage. "Awkward" continues that streak. It's got a kind of sexy vibe that's supposed to get the ladies all hot and bothered, but with lines like "She made me cum a hundred times" and "I tell her that that pussy for me / Just in case she thought it was ours / And she said 'cool'" are so out of left field that I can't ever imagine anyone finding them sexy. Or good, but that's a given.

It doesn't stop there. Birdman has songs from here from almost everyone who's ever been associated with him. This includes, but is not limited to, Tyga, French Montana, Nicki Minaj, 2 Chainz, Mack Maine, Kevin Rudolf, Gudda, Meek Mill and Ace Hood. And very few of them are any good. Honestly, it might just be better if Birdman just becomes a recluse again. 

The Re-dic-yu-lus

Travy - Local Celebrity

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about Rich Hil, the son of Tommy Hilfiger. I actually said his ambient, drug-influenced mixtape was good. So just keep that in mind as I trash this douchebag.

I'm never going to say hip-hop is a closed community. It's actually very open and free. It features the rich and the poor, the gangsta and the posh, the hard and the soft, and the list just goes on. That's what makes it so interesting, the fact that it's so accessible. But guys like Travy do not belong in hip-hop.

Just look at the Local Celebrity cover. A white boy smoking a cigarette, sitting on the hood of his red Acura, dressed in his blue button-down Polo dress shirt and his salmon shorts (yes, I realize I can't talk shit about this) in the middle of Delaware (it's on the licence plate). Now imagine that preppy kid rapping. It's that bad. 

Something tells me Tupac didn't
have a cranberry Acura.

About 95% of Local Celebrity is Travy bragging about just how rich he is. Just read some of his song names: "Acura Music Pt.1," "Local Celebrity," "Country Club Interlude 1" and "PREP." Now let's look more in-depth at his music.

"PREP" is really the essence of Travy. It starts out with the phrase, "Due to some violent content, parental discretion is advised." He then proceeds without even being that violent. He covers topics that span everything from his "cranberry Acura" to polo. ("Polo socks, Polo hat / Turn the golf course into a polo match.") And it doesn't even sound like it's finished. Travy trips up on his words, gets out of breath and doesn't even seem like he knows what he's doing.

And then there's the title-track. It sounds like a parody done by a poor man's Lonely Island. Travy's voice is smothered with autotune as he raps lines like "Rich, white, hood, country club kid who's on his shit." And by the end of the song he's just saying stuff like "All you faggots boring, boring" and "I'm so fly, so fly" most likely to just test out his autotune.

It'd be one thing if Travy was good. Or if Local Celebrity was at least well-produced. Or if he was at least some drug addict hopped up on designer drugs making ambient, hippie music (see: Rich Hil). But Travy's none of those things. He's exactly what you'd expect from some rich boy who most likely has his own studio in his bedroom just for the fun of it. I really hope he's just trolling me, but even if he is, it's not even funny. Just bad.

-- Xavier Veccia, dropping the mic for now.

@xprime_time