Cyhi The Prynce, Buddy, Money EDD

The Good:

Cyhi The Prynce - Hystori: Black History Project

Cyhi The Prynce is so commonly recognized as the most underrated G.O.O.D. Music artist that it's easy to forget he deserves more recognition. If he's getting recognition on the message boards, isn't that enough?

Then you listen to the latest Cyhi project and you remember that he's low-key one of the best rappers in the game and deserves to be treated like one.

Hystori is largely a socially conscious album that pays tribute to great African Americans that helped pave the way for men like Cyhi. What's interesting is that he seems to pay tribute to actual activists through song titles while mimicking black musicians through the production, which was overseen by Mr. G.O.O.D. Music himself, Kanye West.

This can be heard as soon as the first track, "Huey," starts, which sounds like Yeezy got to Hova's "Hard Knock Life." In the song, Cyhi sounds an awful lot like Kanye, especially when he delivers the slightly egotistical bars that you can't even be mad at because they're kinda true, like "So next time you say, 'The A' got no lyricists' / I just think you gotta taste this exquisite shit." Plus, everyone's favorite Chicago gangster, King Louie (they call him Tony), comes through for a downright dirty verse.

"Basquiat" is another clear allusion to black art, both in the physical sense and the musical sense. The beat samples "It Takes Two" by Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock while the lyrics pay tribute to the artistic integrity of graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. It's an interesting combination and it might be meant to show the difference between the two sides of art. What's really mind-blowing--if it's intentional, that is--is that Basquiat died in 1988, the same year "It Takes Two" was released. Cyhi is a clever rapper, but he's taking it to a whole new level on this one.

Cyhi didn't forget about his ancestors, either, as shown on "Mandela," where The Prince raps over African tribal drums in honor of the late South African activist.

Ultimately, Cyhi compares himself to some of these great activists and musicians. Sure, on paper that sounds like a bit much. But when listening to Hystori, it seems completely feasible. And with Cyhi's first actual album currently in the works, Hystori is just the beginning.

The BadPharrell:

Buddy - Idle Time

Kendrick Lamer, Miley Cyrus, Robin Thicke, Sir Michael Rocks, Asher Roth, Casey Veggies and Freddie Gibbs. What do all these artists have in common? They all probably owe some favor to Pharrell and decided to pay him back by being featured on Buddy's debut mixtape.

That's right--the Compton native is lucky enough to have this all-star lineup on his first ever mixtape. How, you ask? He probably sold his soul to Pharrell. But if Pharrell has taught as anything, it's that being able to work with the Neptune is much more rewarding than any soul.

What's even crazier than the list of features is how long Idle Time has been in the works. Pharrell's little Buddy has been working on this mixtape for over three years. If only Pharrell spent that much time on his hat choices. HEYO! Pop culture references!

That being said, every year was well worth it. Smokey the Bear was able to craft a pop rap masterpiece for Buddy, and that should be huge as the West Coast rapper goes forward.

However, that doesn't mean this is good actual rap. Don't get me wrong, I love Pharrell and couldn't be happier that he has become one of the most influential people in the music industry. But, he's come a long way from the mastermind behind some of hip-hop's biggest acts and has since drifted heavily into Billboard Top 100 territory.

That's all good for Pharrell & Co., but when listening to an artist like Cyhi The Prince right before Buddy, Idle Time seems much too shallow.

"Smoke Signals," which is produced by Pharrell and features Miley, is an extremely catchy song that properly layers the Queen of Twerk underneath Buddy's vocals to give the song a bit of a soulful feel. However, when getting down to it, it's just about getting high with a girl.

These problems become even more evident when Buddy is put side-by-side with hip-hop elites like Lamar and Sir Michael.

"Agitated," which is especially notable for the Cool Kids reunion between Sir Michael and producer Chuck Inglish, just makes Buddy look foolish. While Buddy's rhyming with repetition, Michael has consecutive bars with the same rhyme scheme without repeating himself once. 

And Kendrick's verse on "Staircases" makes the metaphors in Buddy's verse seem like it was written by a child. Hell, Kendrick even spells out his usage of metaphors when he raps, "This rapping's just a metaphor and I deserve a medal for / Writing another metaphor, about ambition," and even that is more complex than Buddy. Lonely Island was a better fit for Kendrick than this youngin'. 

Idle Time accomplishes exactly what it wanted: to be catchy without much effort. And the large amount of features is enough to make the mixtape tolerable. But ultimately, this is more pop than rap, which isn't what hip-hop mixtapes are all about.

The Re-dic-yu-lus:

Money EDD - Scrilla Season

Here's a list of things this mixtape does right:

1. Uses the term "scrilla."

And that's it. I don't know why, but I've always just really liked the term "scrilla" to describe money. Same with "guap." I should really start using them more...

Sorry, I was just trying to distract myself from the actual mixtape, Scrilla Season. Good title, bad content.

One of the things that annoys me most about Money EDD (is it "Ee Dee Dee" or "Ed?") is that he thinks a hook just has to be one semi-cool sounding sentence repeated consistently. This seems to be a problem with a lot of rappers these days, but Double Dee over here takes this to an extreme. Actually, scratch that. He's not Double Dee. If he's anyone from Ed, Edd & Eddy, it's definitely Eddy. He even kind of looks like him. 

Ha! Look at that! I was kind of kidding but he actually does kind of look like an older Eddy. Even the big ears. Now EDDy has done two things right with Scrilla Season.

Sorry, I have ADD when it comes to EDD. Hot damn, I'm on a roll. But back to this whole screaming a shitty hook thing. "Floating" is a good example of this. The hook switches off between "I'm riding around witchyo girl" and one line where EDDy just sings really horribly. And then the verse starts and, to his credit, EDDy does manage some semi-decent rhymes. However, the quality is so subpar and the annoying phaser synth beat can really get on a writer's nerves.

Looking back, this looks kinda weird

And actually, doesn't this whole mixtape kind of look like something Eddy would do? I could just imagine him asking Double Dee to help out with production, but then he'd refuse, so Eddy would go to Ed, but he would do such a bad job that Double Dee would have to step in. And then they'd try to sell it to get jaw breakers, but no one would buy it. Poor Eddy.

Listening to this production, it sounds much more Ed than Double Dee. The beats are usually just a collection of boring synths or overly simple instrumentation. There's also a large amount of really stupid Auto-Tune that this writer can't stand.

Actually, the more I think about this, the more I realize this mixtape is worse than anything the Eds could come up with. Even Plank could do a better job at a mixtape than EDD. Sorry, EDD, but you're not making any scrilla off Scrilla Season. No jaw breakers for you.

Praise Yeezus

So, I'm going to do something a little different this week. Okay, a lot different. I'm going to see Kanye West live on Friday. I've waited the majority of my life for this moment. So, needless to say, I'm pretty freaking excited. So excited that I'm even willing to sound like a fangirl by dedicating a whole blog post to him.

So, instead of doing the classic "Good, Bad and Re-dic-yu-lus" format of Stack That Cheese, I'm going to rank Kanye West's six solo albums from worst to best. It's too bad Kanye had to come up this week because I was pretty stoked to review Action Bronson's new mixtape, Blue Chips 2. But this is something I've always wanted to do and if I have a platform and reason to do so, I might as well.

6. 808s & Heartbreak

This is probably the easiest decision on the whole list. While I admittedly like this album more than most, it's still clearly the worst thing Kanye's ever put out.

808s & Heartbreak was the album that Kanye put out that's famous (or infamous) for its use of Auto-Tune. The popular vocal synthesizer was just coming down from its peak in popularity. While most Auto-Tune (ab)users tended to use it as just a fun toy to fool around with, Kanye used it as a way to express his emotion. This meant that 808s was not only Kanye's worst album, but saddest, too. Some might even say "sappy."

However, 808s still had its moments of intrigue. "Welcome to Heartbreak" basically helped start Kid Cudi's mainstream career. And when Kanye opens the song with the line "My friend showed me pictures of his kids / And all I could show him was pictures of my cribs," the song instantly became one of the best "first world problems" type songs, which some may hate, but I feel for 'Ye.

And the first two singles, "Love Lockdown" and "Heartless," are among the most memorable Kanye West songs among the masses.

Plus, "RoboCop" is one of the funniest Kanye songs ever, as he compares the female subject of the song to someone from a Stephen King novel.

Above all else is the fact that Kanye really helped spearhead a new movement in the hip-hop community. Drake is still making music reminiscent of 808s. However, no matter how good anyone may think 808s & Heartbreak is, it's hard to argue for the album to be any higher than last among the rest of Kanye's discography.

5. Late Registration

This placement is one of the hardest on the list. I've spent plenty of time considering whether this album or the next was better. After much consideration, I decided to put Late Registration at five because I'm not as well versed in it as I am the rest of Kanye's discography.

I'm aware that's a really weak reason. But whether Late Registration came in at four or five, it would still be astounding that it isn't even in the top half of Kanye's creations. Because this is a good album. This might even be a great album. This might even be a timeless album. But there are still three to four albums better made by the same guy.

There are some songs that are nothing short of brilliant on here. "Roses" is widely regarded as one of the most personable songs that Kanye has ever made and "Hey Mama" is probably one of the only songs that could top that.

"Diamonds from Sierra Leone" has to be one of the best beats Kanye's ever produced and rapped over. "Heard Em Say" is probably the best thing that Adam Levine of Maroon 5 has ever done. "Touch the Sky" put Lupe Fiasco on a golden platter for the public to enjoy him on.

And then there's the ultimate Kanye West hit: "Gold Digger." While there are other songs put out by Kanye that made it big, there are none more a staple of pop culture than "Gold Digger."

And this isn't even one of Kanye's best. Bravo, Mr. West. Bravo.

4. Graduation

If we're ranking these albums by how critically-acclaimed each album is, Graduation would have been Kanye's second worst. Whereas Late Registration got five-star reviews and a 9.5 from Pitchfork, Graduation merely managed four-and-a-half stars and an 8.7 from Pitchfork. Come on, 'Ye, you're better than that.

But for me, Graduation is one of Kanye's most exciting albums. At the time it was released, Graduation felt like it was just a bit too far from typical Kanye to really compete with Late Registration and College Dropout. But over the years, the experimenting that took place on Graduation seems like child's play compared to what he's done on the likes of Yeezus and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

Kanye's later experimentation made Graduation seem more like "normal Kanye" and less like "experimental Kanye." And as it shifted to more of the middle, it seemed to become a little better. At least to me, that is.

Whereas College Dropout and Late Registration took a more Tribe Called Quest path, Graduation felt a little funkier and a little lighter, too.

You can tell Kanye was in a little better mood just from some of the song titles. "Champion." "Good Life." "Stronger." Clearly Kanye had a much better mindset. And that made it a little more fun, which made it stand out a bit among the pretty dark discography of Kanye.

"Homecoming," featuring Coldplay's Chris Martin, was among the highlights of Graduation, as Kanye sang a ballad dedicated to his hometown of Chicago.

And singles "Stronger," "Good Life," and "Flashing Lights" were perfect choices to represent the album.

And yet, there are still three albums better. Kanye's the best.

3. Yeezus

I'm going to keep this light because I went into over 600 words about Kanye's latest here. But I will go into it a bit.

I'm not really sure how Yeezus will stand the test of time. There's been just about as much hate as there has been praise. And I get some of the complaints.

Yes, lyrically this is probably Kanye's worst. And yes, the style he adopted isn't all his own (see: Death Grips). But what really made me fall in love with Yeezus is how introspective it is on Kanye's part.

Kanye uses each song to reflect a different part of his life, from his early days of being an activist-turned-rapper to the current egotistical 'Ye. If you know much about Kanye, it's not easy for him to admit he's wrong. Ever. But on Yeezus, he looked into every era of his lifetime and critiqued it. And that says a lot.

2. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

The inner debate between MBDTF and Yeezus was intense. There was blood drawn. Deaths tallied. Tears shed. It got messy, to say the least.

Ultimately, I decided on MBDTF because I am a hipster. And this is the Kanye album for hipsters.

While Yeezus is the most outwardly experimental album of Kanye's career, MBDTF is the real most experimental Kanye.

This is due to the crazy orchestration. You don't need to look any further for this than "All of the Lights." Basically every major musician appeared on the track. From Rihanna to Elton John to Kid Cudi to Alicia Keys. This track was stacked. And it was all so beautifully layered.

And "Runaway." That simple piano slowly getting an even simpler drum kit added to it. And Pusha T basically coming out as a solo artist.

And the fact this was the first time Justin Vernon teamed up with Kanye made this album even better.

Plus, he took his music videos to a whole new level, even creating a short film. It's no wonder this is the hipster album of Kanye's.

1. College Dropout

There's no question. This is the best Kanye album of all time. Hell, this might be one of the best rap albums of all time. Definitely one of the best of the aughts.

Kanye debuted with a splash after years of working as a producer and an underground rapper. It was the perfect old-school album with a new-school flare. The best album from a Chicago rapper since Common. It was no wonder that 'Ye got Jay-Z's blessing. Just listen to this shit.

Kanye left everything on the table. Need a song bashing the radio industry? "Jesus Walks." What about a sultry love ballad? "Slow Jamz." Oh, you want probably the best outro of all time? "Last Call." You know how good "Last Call" was as an outro? J. Cole took the beat and used it as his own.

I don't even know what to say about Dropout. I just want to write the title of every single song and say, "this song is awesome." But I'm not going to do this. I'm just going to let you listen to the perfect Kanye album.

Just A Normal Day

Hey, Cheeseheads. How was your day? Mine was pretty normal. Because today was a normal day. Like, incredibly normal. Yep, nothing special happens in the middle of February, that's for sure. It's just a normal day. A normal Thursday with a normal Stack That Cheese post with no surprises.

The Good:

Problem & Iamsu! - Million Dollar Afro

I've gone over before how I often look at the covers and titles of mixtapes when trying to decide what mixtapes to look at. This, of course, applies to Million Dollar Afro. I've always greatly enjoyed afros. In fact, in fifth grade, I used to put a massive amount of mousse in my hair and I tried to shape my hair in the form of an afro. Needless to say, it was extremely unsuccessful. So now I just obsess over them, instead. And that led me to Problem & Iamsu!

If you've heard of Problem & Iamsu!, it's most likely because you're either a fan of theirs or you heard them on a Wiz Khalifa track. The duo from California is a frequent collaborator of Khalifa and was even featured on Cabin Fever 2 (the song, "Bout Me," is also featured on Million Dollar Afro). And after seeing Iamsu!'s afro, it's not hard to tell why. It's a pretty great afro. (Also, both smoke a vast amount of weed. That helps, too.) Just check it out in the title track's smokey music video.

The duo focuses on stoner music. As I've gone over in the past, stoner music is very hit and miss. Curren$y manages to make good stoner music, but Wiz has been struggling to do so as of late. And Million Dollar Afro is just as hit-and-miss.

"100 Grand" is one of those hits. For one, it has one of the harder beats on the album, compiled of hard bass lines, claps and synths that get the head bobbing. It's even nicer when Problem & Iamsu! and the features of Kool John and Juvenille go in on it. Problem and Kool John have the hottest verses as Problem spits, "Wood on the dashboard / All about the cash, board / Make the money fast forward / Make your bitch give me that like her ass forward" and Kool John raps, "We're fucking with my cash, man you're fucking with your life / I ain't saying I'm a theif, but a nigga fuck your wife."

T-Pain called. He wants his
auto-tune back. And some work.

The title track, shortened as "MDA," is one of the misses. All the potential is there, with an exciting beat that gets the listener pumped up and some nice verses from Iamsu! But the song features over-saturated Auto-Tune. If it was limited to just the chorus, or if it was 2010, it wouldn't be as bad. But the Auto-Tune manages to make its way into the verses and that's just too much auto-tune in 2013.

Million Dollar Afro is far from perfect and features a few straight-up stupid songs that are hard to listen to, but the mixtape is saved by the hits like "Knock It Off" and "Hunnits."

The Bad:

Krondon - Everything's Nothing

The bad category is always the hardest to decide. It's not like the re-dic-yu-lus because it's not pointing out the blatantly bad, and it's not like the good because it's not giving praise. Sometimes, it's just adequate--not good and not horrible. This is one of those times.

Krondon's Everything's Nothing is alright. That's really the perfect way to describe it. He does some things right--he focuses on real topics and the beats are for the most part pretty good--but he also does some things very poorly.

Take the song "I'm Moving" for example. Krondon's probably at his best in some aspects of the song. For one, it has a catchy, somber/sweet chorus of, "I'm moving all my work today." And the song is about moving all of the supplies you have in order to make more money to support those around you. It's a topic heard many times before, but quality nonetheless.

Should've read more of this guy.

But all of this is rendered pointless because Krondon just doesn't deliver in other aspects. Krondon's main challenge is rhyming, surprisingly. Of course he can rhyme, but he mostly sticks to simplistic singular syllable rhyme schemes that seem forced. "Diamonds are forever / And this rhymer's kind of clever / Watch him turn crack rocks into cheddar" is actually one of his better lines, but the delivery around it isn't smooth at all.

Imagine if Kendrick Lamar wasn't so complex in Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City. What if he didn't have a song where he was rapping from the perspective of a teenager? Or if he dropped the comic relief provided by his parents' phone calls? Or if he didn't take the role of those who left his life in "Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst?" What would Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City be then? It's not just good enough to have an interesting backstory and some good beats. In fact, it might be harder. Because that means you have to truly deliver in order to tell your story as best as it can be told.

Guys like Problem & Iamsu! have it easier. They just rap about weed and have a good time. As long as you have good beats and your rhymes are good, you're set. But Krondon has to do more because he has more to say. He just doesn't do enough on Everything's Nothing.

The Re-dic-yu-lus:

G FELLA - St. Valentine's Day Massacre

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! You thought I forgot, didn't you? My confusing intro and title threw you off, didn't it? I would never forget about you, Cheeseheads. I may not have gotten you guys chocolate or flowers or a fancy candle-lit dinner, but I did get you a horrible mixtape. I know you all so well, don't I?

Sadly, St. Valentine's Day Massacre isn't a very good Valentine's Day mixtape. There's no love-making R. Kelly, Barry White-type songs. It's actually quite violent. You probably should have guessed that from the word "massacre" in the title, but if you didn't, now you know.

So, to make up for giving you a violent mixtape instead of a sexy one, I'll give you some cards. Stack That Cheese cares.

You know this mixtape is going to be bad as soon as the chorus in the first song, "Massacre," begins. "No more excuses, no more chances / No more frenemies, no more cancers," raps G FELLA quite violently. Excuse me? Frenemies? I've never heard anyone say "frenemies" more angrily than G FELLA does. And then he starts the first verse by saying, "Go down on you harder than a dinosaur bite." To be fair, dinosaur bites do go down pretty damn hard.

You know what's harder than dinosaur bites, though? Listening to G FELLA's song "City Boy." (That transition doe.) Think of the most famous song that has the phrase "city boy" in it. If you guessed "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey, you're right! Your prize is another awesome Valentine's Day card right after this paragraph! (And if you didn't guess correctly, well, you'll still see the card, but only because I'm nice.) Now imagine it poorly sampled and you'll have "City Boy."

"City Boy" is about how G FELLA apparently grew up in a small town where "everybody knows everybody." How he portrays it, though, is just crazy. "Ice makes your wrist numb / Gold digger chicks come / Neighborhood chicks come / Beat them gold diggers up," he says. He then goes on to talk about how the cops didn't mess with him and his crew and just basically lists the people who lived there, before ending the song by shouting, "That's the city! That's the city I live in!" He clearly lived in quite the city.

I honestly don't know what to say about G FELLA's St. Valentine's Day Massacre. It's honestly horrible and isn't even as laughable as some of the other re-dic-yu-lus mixtapes of Stack That Cheese past. With that being said, it still made my Valentine's Day more enjoyable, and I hope it made yours better, too, Cheeseheads.

-- Xavier Veccia, dropping the mic for now.

@xprime_time

So Re-Dic-Yu-Lus

This is an emotional Stack That Cheese for me, I'm not going to lie. As regular readers know, here at Stack That Cheese we like to look at the absolute worst mixtapes of the week. We call these albums "re-dic-yu-lus." And for those of you who don't know why, it's because I love how Swizz Beats says "ridiculous" during the hook of "So Apalled" off Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. And today, two of those featured artists from that song are here on Stack That Cheese. (No, Jay-Z and Kanye did not decide to release competing mixtapes the same week.) I'll try not to cry, but no promises can be made.

The Good:

Cyhi The Prince - Ivy League: Kick Back

Cyhi might be one of the most underrated members of G.O.O.D. music. He consistently shows up on his guest verses, but doesn't get the love that others like Big Sean or even G.O.O.D. Music collaborator 2 Chainz get. But on Ivy League: Kick Back, Cyhi proves just how good and versatile he is.

On "Mary Jane," Cyhi shows his abilities as stoner rapper. Obviously, a song called "Mary Jane" is most likely about weed. On this track, Cyhi talks about his love for the drug and how "Mary Jane bought [him] everything." With a nice, laid-back beat and a feature from Smoke DZA, it's a great track to smoke to.

Rodgers & Hammerstein
were pretty hood, though.

And he proves he can take on more serious issues with "Favorite Things," which is a more hood version of the song "These are a Few of My Favorite Things" from Sound of Music. On the track, Cyhi talks about growing up without the finer things, saying, "None of us were accustomed to being rich / Unless you was a hustler, hustling flipping bricks." The heavier lyrics accompanied by a piano-based beat produced by The Audibles work together to make this one of the best songs on the mixtape.

Djonald Glover Unchained?

Cyhi even shows his comedic side on "Young, Rich, Fly & Famous." One of my favorite lines from this song has to be, "She said, 'What kind of jeans are those.' I told her, 'Bitch, guess' / She said, 'True Religion.' I said, 'No, bitch. Guess.'" I honestly don't know what makes this line so ridiculously hilarious. It's such a stupid line and if nearly any other rapper said it, it wouldn't be as funny. But Cyhi manages to pull it off. Childish Gambino also shows up for a great verse, including the line, "Chain on my neck, like, boy's so Django / The 'D' is silent. My d is violent." That's right! Troy from Community is rapping about Django Unchained. I can die happy now.

Kick Back is an incredibly solid effort from Cyhi. With this mixtape, the young G.O.O.D. Music star shows just how bright his future is.

The Bad:

Pusha T - Wrath of Caine

If you would have told me a month ago--hell, a week ago--that friend of ACRN Pusha T's latest mixtape would be subpar, I would have thought you were crazy. But here we are, with the G.O.O.D. Music veteran in "the bad." (Ironic, isn't it?)

Most likely, this mixtape is compiled of left-overs from his upcoming album My Name Is My Name that should be out in March. So, it is excusable that the songs would be less than quality. However, that doesn't change the fact that Pusha T failed to show up.

What is most confusing about this mixtape is that Pusha has three features from Maybach Music and none from his own label. "Millions" features Maybach Music's boss himself, Rick Ross. Pusha opens the song up by saying that when G.O.O.D. Music and Maybach get together, they "get that money." But if this song says anything about the relationship between the two labels, they probably don't get that much money together. There's really not much to say about "Millions." It's just adequate. And it drags on for way too long. I was ready for the song to be over after Ross' verse, but there were still two-and-a-half minutes left.

Production is another major issue with Wrath of Caine. "Doesn't Matter," produced by Renegades, just seems to be off on the timing. It's almost confusing how anyone thought this would be aesthetically pleasing. And "Trust You" is an example of a good song being ruined by a bad hook. The hook, sung by Kevin Gates, seems overly saturated. And this is a problem that seems to come up time and time again.

The best song is probably "Revolution," produced by The Neptunes. With some cymbals and horns, mixed with some good lines ("Took our coach down, Al Davis."), it's hard not to like. Sadly, it's also the second shortest song on the 11-track mixtape, coming in at 1:43.

Wrath of Caine is far from horrible. But Pusha T is capable of so much more. Hopefully, he's saved the best for My Name Is My Name. And I refuse to believe otherwise until he proves it himself.

The Re-dic-yu-lus:

TSC - Life Love & Music

With such a momentous reunion of the "So Appalled" crew, it's essential to honor them with a mixtape as re-dic-yu-lus as they come. And thanks to TSC, Cyhi and Pusha T can be honored properly.

I don't know much about TSC. Okay, I don't know anything about TSC. But what I do know, thanks to his description of his mixtape on datpiff, is that he still relies on AOL to receive his email. That's right. AOL. You remember that, right? It was the service you used to flirt with "sokkerstud94" while asking your friend "b@kstreetgurl" if she thought sokkerstud like-liked you. And that's what TSC still uses. Clearly, the dude's old-school.

But he's not old-school in the Joey Bada$$ "bring hip-hop back to Brooklyn" way. He's old-school in the "I still use horrible recording equipment" way.

As soon as Life Love & Music starts, you can just tell TSC doesn't know what the fuck he's doing. In the song "Pretty Girl," the volume levels are off, proved by the fact that the beat soars over him and the hook is so loud that you need to turn down the volume.

Skip 11 tracks down to the song "When Da Angels Come," and now the volume is so much quieter. Even the verses from "Pretty Girl" are louder. And by the end of the song, the volume is somehow even lower. Along with the volume issues, TSC's flow is just absolutely horrid. It's hard to tell exactly what his rhyme scheme is and when one line ends and the other begins.

Based on Life Love & Music, TSC should probably consider switching to Gmail, along with changing his recording equipment, tweaking his flow, or maybe even just quitting rap in general.

-- Xavier Veccia, dropping the mic for now.

@xprime_time

Post-Danksgiving Edition

Oh, how I missed you, Cheeseheads! How've you been? How was your Thanksgiving? Did you eat a lot of food? Maybe watch some football? Did you participate in Danksgiving? How about Black Friday? Did you get a TV or Blu-ray player? Aww man, it's really great to catch up with you guys. I missed y'all a lot.

Because I was not aware that the last post would be my last before Thanksgiving, I forgot to let you all know how thankful I am for you. So instead, I'll show you with a kick-ass new post! Because I missed a week, I've compiled the most memorable mixtapes from the past two weeks to guarantee a good time.

The Good:

Action Bronson - Rare Chandeliers

(Before I start introducing and reviewing this mixtape, can we just take time to marvel at the awesomeness of this cover?)

You may not have heard of Action Bronson. He hasn't quite hit it big yet, but he's garnered a pretty decent following from underground hip-hop lovers.

And truthfully, I haven't given him much of a look myself. I've listened to a couple of his songs, but none of them really stuck with me, so I never downloaded anything by him. Before Rare Chandeliers, the only Action Bronson I had was his feature on Domo Genesis & Alchemist's latest project.

But I've said it before and I'll say it again: that's the beauty of mixtapes. (What did you expect? It's a blog dedicated to nothing but mixtapes.) And I can say after listening to Rare Chandeliers that Bronson is officially stuck with me.

Bronson kind of reminds me of Rick Ross. He's big, gritty, has the facial hair of a butcher (fun fact: Bronson used to be a gourmet chef, so the facial hair makes sense) and is extremely intimidating. The only difference is, you know, Bronson is good.

He has tremendous flow and good lyrics. "Blood of the Goat" is filled with examples. With a chorus of "Do, I'm liftin' you / Off your feet like my daughter at the park / Don't cross the border 'cause it's slaughter after dark," you know the song will have plenty of intimidating lines.

The Alchemist creates beats that go hand-in-hand with Bronson's hard-ass persona. The free album has an old-timey gangster feel, with electric guitars, plenty of horns and the kind of bass that you can't duplicate through an electric beat maker.

And there's a couple great features that take Rare Chandeliers to the next level, such as Schoolboy Q and Roc Marciano ("I laughed as the hardest pussy farted.")

Action Bronson gives his old fans new music to listen to and his new fans a reason to continue to listen.

The Bad:

B.o.B - Fuck Em We Ball

I've mentioned before how I prefer mixtape B.o.B to album B.o.B. And I've developed a theory about it: there are two B.o.Bs.

Okay, maybe this isn't ground-breaking. He basically says it himself. The mixtape B.o.B is simply B.o.B. He's gritty, rough and a little harder around the edges. Then there's album B.o.B, also known as Bobby Ray. Bobby Ray is a bit poppier. He has glitzy tracks with high-end pop stars as features. Oh, and did I mention Bobby Ray is catchy as fuck?

Both are pretty good in their own way. But B.o.B is just better in my opinion. If you've heard "Beast Mode"off No Genre, you know how hyped he can make you. And he can also tell a story. "Dr. Aden," also off No Genre, is my favorite example.

But that was then, this is now. And now, B.o.B doesn't seem like he's as good as he used to be. It seems as if he's blended B.o.B with Bobby Ray. And not in a "best of both worlds" way, but in a clusterfuck of confusion.

There's the title track, which is about as B.o.B as it gets. It opens up with "Man I go so dumb that I should get a check for disability / I'm a fucking lunatic you a liability." And featured guest Spodee proves worthwhile ("We done laid more niggas down than a thirsty chiropractor.") But there's still that hint of Bobby Ray's pop sensibilities sprinkled throughout the track.

And then there's the downright poppy, like "Be There," which sounds like it was a reject from his last album as B.o.B mostly sings through the entire song. "I don't want to waste your time / I just want to change your life." Couldn't you just see Taylor Swift or some other pop diva singing that? Then why the hell is B.o.B singing it?

Even his features reflect how he's drifting more to the mainstream side. (See: Mac Miller, Snoop Lion, and T.I.)

Really, this album isn't a bad release, it's just a bad release for B.o.B. It's unclear whether it's one of his albums (just not as catchy), or one of his mixtapes with more pop influences. And neither of those are really B.o.B's (or Bobby Ray's) forte.

The Re-dic-yu-lus:

Yung Word - The Ride

There are very few things you need to know about me. I like piña coladas and walks in the rain, I've seen Inception way too many times and I still haven't developed a solid theory about it, and I fucking love "Mercy." If I took a shot every time I've rapped, "Drop it to the floor, make that ass shake," I would never be sober. Just watch the music video!

Pure genius! The widescreen! The black and white! Kid Cudi dancing randomly throughout the video! Kanye proves time and time again how brilliant he is as a musician, but "Mercy" is his masterpiece! (Okay, maybe not. But I love it nevertheless.)

So, I decided that if anyone were to ever mess with "Mercy" and make it less than satisfactory, I would be beyond pissed at them. They couldn't even buy my love with a picture of Ted riding on a space jet ski with a unicorn-pegasus hybrid (pegacorn, if you will) to his side.

Yung Word, if you're reading this, I'm talking about you. You took a good thing and ruined it for me! Are you happy?!

First off, Yung Word ruins the beat by adding a cheesy version of ASAP's deep voice saying, "All I do is rap" multiple times.

Then, he lives up to his word and actually raps. But you'll wish he didn't. I know I do. "Niggas sleeping on me, had to wake them from their naps," he says. It's like he broke into the Louvre in Paris and took a shit on the Mona Lisa, except worse.

And he does this throughout the entire mixtape. Whether it's another Kanye song in "H.A.M." or ASAP Rocky's "Goldie," he just takes good songs and makes them shitty. If you're going to be a crappy rapper, at least ruin your own beats, not good beats used by actual rappers.