ACRN Week Special

This week, ACRN is turning 42. That's crazy! Forty-two years of music have gone by in the span of ACRN's existence. I've been alive for less than half of that impressive run, and Stack That Cheese has been around for an even shorter amount of time. While it would be nearly impossible to figure out what were the best releases in the span of ACRN's 42 years, it's fairly plausible to be able to do that for Stack That Cheese's run. So, why not do that? Let's look back at the year thus far and hand out awards to the best and most re-dic-yu-lus mixtapes that have been covered in Stack That Cheese.

The Best:

This was extremely difficult to figure out. There have been a lot of quality mixtapes that I have covered in Stack That Cheese's relatively short existence--so much so that I felt I had to split up this category. Because mixtapes can come from much different circumstances, I figured it would only be fair to separate the major releases from the mixtapes that barely made a splash.

The Best Major Release:

OCD: Moosh & Twist - Back to the Basement

This is one of the newest "good" mixtapes and that means that this award could have been affected by my emotions surrounding it being fairly recent. Hell, I'm pretty certain that's the reason I still like this mixtape so much.

But it's still such a good mixtape. I wrote about why I liked it already, obviously. But I might as well explain why it beat out it's biggest competitors.

One of Back to the Basment's biggest competition was Action Bronson's Rare Chandelliers. As I said when I reviewed it, it was just so brutal. And in the best possible way. Action Bronson is just an overall scary person and it comes out on Rare Chandelliers.

This was the hardest to decide. For one, Rare Chandelliers by far has the best cover of any mixtape that I reviewed. How could you not love a .gif for a mixtape cover? Secondly, Action Bronson has one of the best Twitters of any rap artist. His randomness is up there with Tyler, the Creator. However, if the things I remember most about your mixtape are your cover and how it led me to some great late-night tweets, then there are probably some better mixtapes out there.

The other dark horse for this category was Hoodie Allen's return to quality rap on Crew Cuts. This one was much easier because as I was deciding just which mixtape was the best, I realized the song I go to most on Crew Cuts is the one featuring OCD. And if OCD was the best part of Crew Cuts, then a mixtape of only them must be great.

Best Underground Release:

Blake Allee - Televisionn

This one wasn't even nearly as hard. In fact, the reason I made this a category was because I didn't want to try to figure out whether I liked this mixtape better than Back to the Basement or not. It just sounded like a daunting task that I wasn't ready to conquer.

This one is easily Blake Allee's to lose. Televisionn is the most creative mixtape that I've listened to all year. The beats are so different than what anyone else is doing, his lyrics are riddled with clever wordplay and complex rhymes and it has a really intelligent theme.

Sure, there was competition. Rubixx's To the Third and Cinos' #ChaosControl2 were among the biggest standouts. But neither were nearly as creative as Televissionn, along with having their own problems. So, the fake award goes to Allee.

Biggest Disappointment:

Pusha T - Wrath of Caine

I already went over why I didn't like this mixtape all that much, so I'm not going to bore you with me explaining it again.

Instead I'm just going to say why it was so disappointing.

Pusha T has always been a good rapper, going all the way back to his Clipse days. Wrath of Caine, though, was really his first major solo release. After being such a great rapper beforehand, both as one-half of Clipse and in various guest spots, it was expected to be fantastic. Instead, it was just mediocre. 

Now, if this category was the worst mixtape, Pusha T wouldn't be even close. It was probably among the best of "the bad." However, it shouldn't have even been bad. He's better than this. But on Wrath of Caine, he didn't prove it.

Most Re-Dic-Yu-Lus:

Lil Poopy - Coke Ain't a Bad Word

Was there anyone else who even had a chance against Lil Poopy? He's like a mini French Montana who's not even that good at a normal size and after actual experience. That's perfect. The only thing cooler would be if 2 Chainz had a mini-me. Now that would be amazing.

Another thing to say for Poopy is that he got me hooked on these little kid rappers. They're hilarious! Screw Degrassi, little kid rappers are my new guilty pleasure.

Sorry, Drake

Most Based:

Lil B - Pink Flame

Ok, some one could have beaten Lil Poopy out for most re-dic-yu-lus. But that's not fair to Lil Poopy if I put him up against Based God. And I'm not about to pick on a little kid. (It's funny, because by judging an eight-year-old's rapping skills, I am kind of picking on him.)

This might have been the toughest category to judge over all. I mean, how does one even begin to judge a mixtape's basedness?

Well, for starters, it must be by Lil B. That narrowed it down to three.

After that, I was lost. What makes a Lil B mixtape so based? Is it his clever wordplay? His brilliant lyrics? His bumping beats?

After many days of intense thought, I realized that basedness is not a measurable quality. It's something that's just unexplainable, like the size of the universe or whether the chicken came before the egg.

So I left it up for the Based God to decide. I printed out a picture of each mixtape cover and threw them up in the air. And then, Pink Flame was struck by lightning, thus symbolizing that it was so based.

That and "Eat" is one of my favorite Lil B songs of all time. Thank you, Based God.

Brilliance

Hello, children. Welcome back to Stack That Cheese. This week's theme is "brilliance." We will discuss the brilliant people behind rap, whether it be good, bad, or "re-dic-yu-lus," as they say. I hope you learn something today, and become brilliant in your own right.

The Good:

OCD: Moosh & Twist - Back to the Basement

I've been an OCD fan for at least a couple years. Their song "Take Me Back" has been on every warm weather playlist of mine since I first heard of them. They're one of those groups whose songs get better with each listen. Needless to say, I was pretty excited when Back to the Basement was announced.

OCD is a duo composed of, you guessed it, Moosh and Twist. Both are a ripe 20-years-old, meaning they were just high schoolers when they first started. They were good back then, but Back to the Basement proves that they haven't even hit their prime yet.

The moment I realized Back to the Basement was going to exceed any expectations I had was when I first heard their single, "This High." The song starts out with a typical OCD beat, with simple, short synths. But once the guitar was added to the mix, the song just went to a whole new level. OCD proves they are among the most passionate in the game with lines like, "My girlfriend is my ex now, 'cause she told me I had to quit." And that chorus, oh, that chorus is fantastic. Whenever Twist sings, "I don't want to come back down from this high," I get chills.

OCD is more than good. They're
grrreat!

That's the special thing about OCD--they're so real in their songs. They don't try to put on a front, acting like they're hot shit. They're just psyched that they get to be doing this for a living. Especially Twist. Don't get me wrong, I love Moosh, too. But Twist's tomfoolery and vigor reminds me of a young, human Tony the Tiger and his raspy voice is among the most distinct in all of rap. He truly is one of a kind.

Similar to how Jay-Z and Kanye West made an album dedicated to the fact that they made it in Watch the Throne, Moosh and Twist made a mixtape dedicated to the fact that they get the chance to make it.

Along with "This High," they also show this on "Top of the World." Over a piano-based beat, the duo takes time to smell the roses, as shown by the bridge, "No, I've never seen a crowd like this / They ain't never screamed like this / And it's more than beautiful." In a genre where artists often brag about their crowds, it's nice to see people humbled by it all.

OCD may not be the best lyricists or blessed with the best beats (though tracks like "In My Zone" and "Hipster Party" are certainly up there), but they have that X-Factor that makes it difficult not to enjoy them. And Back to the Basement is plenty enjoyable.

The Bad:

Cap 1 - T.R.U. 2 It

Have you ever been lying in bed, jamming to "I'm Different," wishing that 2 Chainz was just less cool. Sure, you like that he pulled up to the scene with his ceiling missing, but you just thought his flow was too contagious. You wanted a rapper just as unimpressive as his lyrics.

Well, now you don't have to deal with that bad-ass, 6'5" MC by the name of Tauheed Epps whenever you want to listen to horrible music. I offer you Cap 1. He's three or four inches shorter, has significantly less dreads (he doesn't have any) and he is ten times less exciting.

That seems to be Cap 1's goal here. He is basically just a less impressive clone of the artist formerly known as Tity Boi. He's got the same repetitive, ridiculous lyrics, just without less swag.

This might be through association. Cap 1 has been featured on a few 2 Chainz songs, and 2 Chainz makes sure to return the favor on T.R.U. 2 It. But this ends up hurting Cap 1's cause because the differences are just so much clearer when the listener has an opportunity to listen to both back-to-back.

Take the song "I Want Sum," the second 2 Chainz feature on the mixtape. He only appears on the chorus, but that chorus is easily the best part of the song. All 2 Chainz does is repeat two lines--"I want some" and "It must be your pussy, 'cause it ain't your face"--but those lines are so brilliant that it makes up for him not having a verse. "It must be your pussy, 'cause it ain't your face" has to be the best backhanded complement ever, right? Cap 1 has lines that are just as bad, just less creative, such as "Wanna swipe it 'cross her ass like I want debit," which is a line used by many before him.

Now I'll never be able to
look at Black Swan the same.

You still get the feeling that Cap 1 is just living in 2 Chainz's shadow even when Mr. Chainz isn't on the track. "Ballerina" certainly stands out. For one, it has a two-minute opening chorus of Cap 1 singing "She's my ballerina" with autotune over and over again. When the verse finally starts, he raps, "She could be the one, I ain't never coming home / Throwing money on her while she spinning on the pole / Shawty, she a pro / Getting down low / Ballerina spin when she standing on her toes." To Cap 1's defense, on this track he does step away from the 2 Chainz-like flow he dons on the rest of the mixtape. But he still brings the same simplistic rhymes, just less clever in the awfulness.

I get what Cap 1 was thinking. According to MTV, 2 Chainz is the second hottest MC right now. And when you're that hot, you have to be doing something right. Cap 1 just forgot that imitators can never be as good as the real thing. And 2 Chainz wasn't that good to start off with.

The Re-dic-yu-lus:

Big Daddy Debo - After Hours

Before I start out, let me just say that this was the most entertaining thing I've heard. Big Daddy Debo did stuff on After Hours that I never heard before and never expected to hear.

That being said, the things Big Daddy Debo did on his mixtape haven't been done before because they never should be done. Am I going to complain? Hell no. After Hours is hilarious.

Five-seconds into the first track, "Follow Me," I knew this was special. Hell, I had a hunch just from looking at the mixtape cover that screams Microsoft Paint. But it was "Follow Me" that confirmed my suspicions. "Follow Me" is like a modern-day "Cupid's Shuffle," just worse. Big Daddy Debo (I also really love his name) shouts commands such as "Put your left leg out and grind / Now grind" and "If that girl is wearing a weave / You swing it."

The creativity doesn't stop there. In fact, every song is just as fantastic. And because there's a mere seven songs on After Hours, I'm going to go into what makes each of them so special.

Yes, that's a temple behind her.

"If U Scared" has a chorus of "If you scared, just say you scared" and a beat that sounds like it belongs in a cheesy '80s porno starring Nina Hartley (I had to risk my search history to look up '80s porn stars, I swear). Debo gives his best effort in singing, but it doesn't sound very good.

"Money to Burn" sounds reminiscent of the theme songs from "Rugrats" and "Caillou," except with Debo saying "Now take your hands and put them up / Then you take them, then you wave them."

"I Fuck With the Best" is just Debo incomprehensibly whisper-rapping like he thinks people still like the Ying Yang Twins.

"Baby Got That Back" is just a huge disappointment, honestly. He got my hopes up that he would cover Sir Mix-a-lot's gem, but no, it's just him rapping over a repetitive horn and '90s synths.

Why NPH put R. Kelly in charge of
something with a teen is beyond me.

"On This Card" sounds like if Neil Patrick Harris tried making Doogie Howser, M.D. into a Broadway musical and put the score in the hands of R. Kelly, but R. Kelly got busted with urinating on another minor, so his 11-year old son took over for him. It sounds fantastic, yes. But I promise you it's not.

"I'm Gonna Get Him" just sounds like Debo discovered he could add synths to his voice, so he tried out all of them available on his 1993 music editing software in one song.

Honestly, After Hours is brilliant. I thought 2 Chainz was good at being bad, but he is nothing compared to Big Daddy Debo. He is the Steve Jobs of bad rap. And that's saying something