Midseason Award Show

Another semester has come and gone. We've had some good times here at Stack That Cheese. We've heard some great mixtapes and some not so great mixtapes. And then there's the downright re-dic-yu-lus. We are gathered here tonight to recognize those mixtapes that graced our ears and this blog the past few months. So put your headphones in, sit back and enjoy the ride.

The Best:

Vic Mensa - Innanetape

This one was not a hard award to hand out. Vic Mensa went above and beyond what is to be expected of a mixtape. This could have been released as a legitimate album and it still would have surpassed any possible expectations.

Chicago's already a hotbed for great hip-hop, but thanks to Mensa and frequent collaborator Chance the Rapper, the Windy City became the leader for rap at the moment.

Innanetape's vast range of influences and featured artists made the tape not only one of the best mixtapes of the year, but one of the best releases of 2013 period.

Best Supporting Rapper:

Ab-Soul on Innanetape

I told you that Innanetape had a lot of great featured artists and I wasn't kidding. This included Chance the Rapper, Rockie Fresh and even Thundercat. But Solo's verse and hook on the heart-wrenching "Holy Holy" was above and beyond the best guest verse on the mixtape.

In his verse, Ab-Soul raps about the loss of his girlfriend Alori Joh, who committed suicide back in 2012. With lyrics like "She live through me until I die, this is what love sounds like / I'm her baby boy, she my rib. I'm always by her side," it's hard not to feel for the Black Hippy member.

Big K.R.I.T. was a close second in this category thanks to his verse on Big Sant's "Fire Water II," but nothing can beat Solo's story.

Best Missed Mixtape:

Action Bronson - Blue Chips 2

This category is almost too easy. Bronson quickly become one of my favorite rappers and I was looking forward to Blue Chips 2 for a while. Sadly, though, I wasn't able to review it due to the fact that I was psyched for Kanye's concert in Columbus. I regretted the omission a little at the time, but after Kanye canceled on me (wipes tear from face) I was even more upset about my decision.

Bronson delivers as usual thanks to his badass-meets-teddy-bear flow. But the thing that really put Blue Chips 2 over the top was the production by Party Supplies, who made Blue Chips 2 one of the best produced mixtapes of the year.

Best Female Lead:

Mary Gold - Sex Hormone'd Druggie

Considering she was the only female to crack Stack That Cheese so far this year, Mary Gold is a no-brainer. But that doesn't mean she's any less impressive.


Gold is the newest signee to Curren$y's Jet Life label and boy did she prove her worth. On Druggie, Gold took stoner rap to a whole new, more experimental level. The only problem with Curren$y inking a deal with Gold is that she might soon surpass Spitta himself as the best of Jet Life.

Most Re-dic-yu-lus:

Pyes - Pyes & Pounds

This is probably the hardest category to decide. There's so many horrible mixtapes to choose from. There's Gucci Mane's Diary of a Trap God. Or how about Young Sam's disgrace to stoner rap on Wake & Bake? And of course there's Waka Flocka's latest escapade.

But worse than all of the rest is Pyes. Yes, he has such a re-dic-yu-lus name and that certainly doesn't hurt his credibility, But Pyes' true re-dic-yu-lus-ness comes from his Seussian rhyme scheme, horrible beats and, of course, spelling errors. He opened up Season 2 and boy did he open it up right.

Most Based:

Sigh. This is the saddest part of Season 2 thus far. This category usually has plenty of competion due to the fact that Lil B releases mixtapes constantly. But over the past few months, Based God has been quiet.

I could give this award to Soulja Boy, but he doesn't deserve this. No one deserves this. Until Lil B comes back, this category shall remain empty as a tribute to the Based God in hopes that he descends from Based Heaven and fucks all our bitches. Amen, Lil B. Amen.

-X-Prime, dropping the mic for now
@XavierVeccia

Season 2

Last season on Stack That Cheese: Our main character Xavier Alan Solomon Veccia was busy judging the heroes and demons of hip-hop with his mighty keyboard (which is mightier than the pen, which is mightier than the sword. So, his keyboard is pretty freaking mighty). And then Walt and Jesse got in a fight (in which Jesse dropped the word "bitch" multiple times). Oh wait, wrong show. Anyway, Stack That Cheese is back and it feels so good. Speaking of good...

The Good:

Audio Push - Come as You Are

Audio Push opens up the second season well with a great release in Come as You Are.

Audio Push is a Cali duo credited with the invention of twerking. As an expert jerker, I owe all of my life to these two.

Audio Push brings some great lyricism to Come as You Are. Take the song “Tis the Season,” which features a bass-heavy beat, but the stringed kind, not the boom-boom-bat kind. It gives it an old-school flare, made stronger with the new-school old-school mastermind Joey Bada$$'s feature on the track. Joey is a lyrical mastermind himself--one of the best in the game.

"You're a jerk / I know, girls tell me all the time"

But where Come as You Are really flourishes is in the beats accompanying Audio Push's lyrics. The self-titled first track of the album is the perfect example. The Key-Wane-produced track combines the turntable scratches and vinyl-textured aspects of old with the A$AP-like trippiness and synths of new. Not to mention some nice lines, such as, “I guess we're just outcasts / Can you smell the stank on ya.”

Alice, take a hit of this. We're listening
to Audio Push

And “Rowdy A” has an Alice in Wonderland, Dumbo-like trippy-ass Disney flare with an insanely heavy bass. The Hit-Boy-produced track is an incredibly creative song that stands out in current hip-hop.

But Audio Push can also do bangers, as shown on “Theme Song.” Once again produced by Hit Boy, “Theme Song,” has a slightly creepy piano line mixed with some great bass before breaking down (or breaking up, if you prefer) to a heavy string line. The song also features a catchy verse from TI.

Just about every song on Just as You Are has a creative beat that's perfect for both headphone and riding music. With help from artists like Wale, Lil Wayne, K. Roosevelt and James Faulteroy, Audio Push puts together a great release.

The Bad:

Project Pat - Cheez N Dope 2

If Audio Push rises with the creativity surrounding its beats, Project Pat falters with the lack of it.

When I saw Project Pat's name, I knew I had to get Cheez N Dope 2. I knew I had to check it out. For one, who the hell uses the term “cheese” anymore, let alone this horrible misspelling of it? But more importantly, the only song by Pat I had in my iTunes library was from my days before I became such a hip-hop connoisseur (flips hair). It's a ridiculously bad song called “Don't Call Me No More” featuring Three 6 Mafia.

And Project Pat doesn't disappoint in the slightest.

Most of the beats are pretty basic. With slight bass and ghetto synths, these beats could be just about any other generic rapper's mixtape.

This is shown with some of his features. The song “Gettin Cash” features Juicy J, who doesn't waste any time before promoting his album Stay Trippy. I mean, I guess a shameful promo on another rapper's track is better than his stripper-themed game on his own website. (I lied. The Stay Strippy game is absolutely

perfect.)

But "Gettin Cash" is bad enough that promoting his own album on it might not even be good for Juicy. The beat is tired and the lyrics are way too plain. I mean, with a chorus featuring the line, "I fuck bitches / I bust guns / I sip lean / I smoke down my lungs / But getting cash is what I do best," can you really expect much else?

And that bitch-fucking, lean-sipping smoker theme is found all throughout the album. From the mixtape-opening "Real Killas Don't Talk" to the Wiz Khalifa-featuring "Chiefin." Plus, Project Pat can't seem to spell a word correctly for the life of him, so that doesn't help either.

Pat even squanders a perfectly good opportunity with the song "Weed Smoke" featuring Mac Miller. Mac Miller's one of the most creative rappers in the game right now, but he's forced to rap over another same-old-same-old beat. While the track is admittedly pretty catchy, it still just wastes the talents of Mac.

I think it's safe to say that Project Pat's new mixtape is more Cheez than Dope. *drops the mic* 

The Re-dic-yu-lus:

Pyes - Pyes & Pounds

When I saw Pyes' name, the first thing I though of was pies. But then I decided that no rapper would be so stupid to name himself after pies. And then I saw the album cover with a pie on it. Now my whole world has fallen apart and I don't know what to believe anymore.

Based on my first impression, though, pecan Pyes seems pretty ridiculous. And I LOVE that.

Blackberry Pyes keeps the spelling errors going with the track "Get Enuff." Only when you listen to sweet potato Pyes, it's not surprising he can't spell. According to apple Pyes, "Bitches hate me / Police hate me," but don't worry because it's "coooo." And this is "all cuz a nigga tried so hard / ever since a nigga dropped out of school."

Dr. Seuss ain't got nothing on Pyes

Then comes the song "Wreckless," which features a ghetto-ass beat that goes on way too long (a.k.a. thirty seconds) before cherry Pyes starts rapping. And when blueberry Pyes does start rapping, he becomes a sketchy Dr. Seuss: "Got plenty racks in my safe / Got plenty racks and I pounce / Got plenty racks in my house." And his "nigga" is wreckless because he'll "eat you like wreckless". Ladies and gentleman, Theodor Pyesel.

French silk Pyes continues his horribleness throughout the album, and it's so bad it's honestly great. In fact, I want to thank sweet potato Pyes for starting off the year with a truly re-dic-yu-lus mixtape. He's the reason why I do this.

-X-Prime, dropping the mic for now

@xprime_time