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.

Stack Those Views

Before I get into this week's Stack That Cheese, I just wanted to proudly announce that STC has reached five figures, now sporting over 10,000 views and counting. And in less than a year, too. It's a little sappy--something I try to stay away from while writing about hardcore gangsters--but I just want to thank everyone who's ever viewed my blog. Even those perverts who end up here due to an Alexis Texas search gone wrong.

The Good:

MeLo-X - GOD:WiFi

MeLo-X has just made history on Stack That Cheese! After last week's Better Off Dead from the Flatbush Zombies, MeLo-X's appearance in "The Good" column marks the first time (probably) that two residents from the same community appeared back-to-back on STC.

If that wasn't enough of a hint, MeLo-X is a rapper and producer out of Flatbush, Brooklyn, same as the Zombies. Unlike the Zombies, MeLo-X is a one-man act and manages to make some pretty complex sounds all by himself, with a little help from features and guest producers here and there.

WiFi is more like an EP than a full-length album, but that doesn't limit MeLo from showing off his range.

MeLo relies a lot on electronic sounds that sound like a mix between ASAP Rocky and Flying Lotus. 

"Rich Man" is an example of this. It starts off with a simple electronic bass line before adding some funky synths and a kick-ass drum kit.

Little Simz

MeLo doesn't just hide behind his production, either. He has a pretty great flow that fluctuates between freaky fast and just slow enough to add emphasis to his words. Plus, London-rapper Little Simz stops by to add an even more distinguishable verse. It's not too often you can find a hard-hitting British female emcee, but Little Simz is the exception and it's fantastic.

And "Finer Things" is a diverse track that goes from soothing electronic to ASAP-like hazy rap. Plus, a beautiful songstress by the name of Elle Pierre comes by for an enchanting hook.

There are some songs produced by others that keep up with the general theme of Wifi, such as "Customs," produced by  D. Bridge. The track has a quick hi-hat beat mixed with some spooky background noise that sounds like Timbaland tried his hand at producing the Luigi's Haunted Mansion music.

On "Customs," MeLo sings instead of rapping, and even though he's no Frank Ocean, he still manages to keep up and keep the song interesting.

WiFi's biggest fault is probably that it's just seven songs long, which leaves the listener aching for more. But in those seven songs, MeLo-X manages to add a large contribution to the reincarnation of the New York hip-hop scene.

The Bad:

Cash Out - Ya Feel Me?

I got lucky with this one, honestly. I was just about to head to Datpiff for a bad mixtape. It's been a pretty calm mixtape week thus far, but when I went back to Hot New Hip-Hop's home page, there was this beautifully corny mixtape cover and I knew I was saved.

Cash Out is an Atlanta rapper that clearly likes being known by an action. You might know Cash (also written as Ca$h) from his hit single "Cashin' Out," a song with a repetitive beat and dumbed down lyrics.

Unsurprisingly, Ya Feel Me?  is just more of that, except maybe a little less catchy.

Pull-Up, don't turn up

"Pull Up" is an example of that poor formula. The beat is boring, mostly consisting of Inception-like horns and heavy bass. And the lyrics are just ridiculously stupid, even in the hook. "If a nigga pay you know we bout to pull up / I've been in money since I was in Pull-Ups," raps Cash Out. Although, he deserves at least some credit for being the first rapper of all time to mention Pull-Ups.

"Movie" might be one of the better produced tracks on Ya Feel Me? With a predominately piano-based beat and a little bit of strings, "Movie" just feels more legitimate. It's still repetitive except for a bass breakdown, but by Cash Out standards, it's not bad.

That doesn't mean the lyrics are any better, though. By "Movie," Cash Out means sex tape and he mostly just sings (poorly, I might add) about threesomes and other sexual acts.

The most surprising thing about Ya Feel Me? is that it's mostly just Cash Out. There are only two features on the whole mixtape, and neither of them are important enough to mention. For someone who's worked with Wale before, you would think Cash Out could get some bigger names for his mixtape.

Ya Feel Me? is far from a good debut. For someone new on the scene, you would hope Cash Out would make better use of his 15 minutes of fame. But based on this release, it seems his 15 minutes are up.

The Re-dic-yu-lus:

Soulja Boy - 23

YES! Stack That Cheese is only a few episodes into its second season, but I still thought Soulja Boy and/or Lil B would have made an appearance by now. But I guess it's better late than never.

I probably shouldn't be admitting this, but as soon as I saw Soulja's new mixtape, I automatically penciled it in as re-dic-yu-lus. I mean, it of course turned out to be. But that says something about Soulja Boy that his mixtape being bad is as certain as death and taxes.

"Jackie Chan" has to be one of my favorite bad songs on 23. The beat is made up of some weird piano-y synths and some heavy bass. The hook is just Soulja Boy saying "Kill shit like Jackie Chan" in a way that it sounds like "kishit like Jackie Chan." And Soulja Boy even disses 2 Chainz! "Three chains on my neck, but not in my name," he says, calling out one of the most prolific rappers at the moment.

"But Xavier," you might say, "I love Jackie Chan and all, but I really hate that new Karate Kid with him in it. Is there anything on 23 that might appeal to the original Karate Kid fanboy in my heart?'

Crank this / Crank that

Well, that's a really specific question, voice inside my head. Luckily for you, there totally is. Thanks to Soulja Boy, you can now wax on and wax off in style to his song "Mr. Miyagi." Every Karate Kid fan will love hearing Soulja Boy rapping, "Tattoos on my neck / Tattoos on my chest / Riding through the hood and I feel like I'm the best" right before he goes into a hook repeating "Mr. Miyagi" and "wax on / wax off."

And just because Soulja Boy is an Oriental god, he decided to do a song called "Japanese," too. I don't even get the logic behind this song. He seems to think that enough lean can lead to "niggas talking Japanese." Is this like an epiphany thing? Like, the Holy Spirit comes to him in his lean and encourages speaking tongues? Like, what?

Honestly, "Japanese" barely even has lyrics. I don't know how to quote Soulja Boy off this track because he mostly just says "lean," "g's," "Japanese" and "jeans" a lot. With the occasional "konichiwa," of course, so you know he can indeed speak Japanese.

I truly missed Soulja Boy. Outside of Lil B, he's basically my favorite to cover. And if anyone deserves thanks for STC getting to the big 10k, it's Soulja Boy. So thanks, Soulja Boy. I'll crank that in your honor.

-X-Prime, dropping the mic for now

@XavierVeccia

Season Finale

It feels like just yesterday when I emailed my blogs editor about a mixtape review-based blog. Not long after, I followed through with it. It was rough at first. Hell, it still is rough sometimes. But I slowly started building a blog-writing formula that I have stuck with week after week (for the most part). And I've honestly really enjoyed it. But with the school year coming to an end, so must this blog. But come August, Stack That Cheese will be back and better than ever.

The Good:

King Los - Becoming King

Los was a Baltimore rapper who gained a pretty decent following due to his quick delivery and wordplay. But Los is no more. He goes from Los to King Los in a matter of minutes on the title track of Becoming King.

He begins with just talking about his goals, saying, "If I can do one thing in the world, it would be to inspire just one person" as the beat filled with cymbals and electric guitar builds and builds. As he reaches the conclusion, he begins his rap. And right away, the listener just knows he witnessed a transformation from a rapper to a king.

From there on out, King Los just rides that momentum to put together a fantastic mixtape.

While the king could certainly do that on his own, he brings along company to prove just how royal he truly is. With features from some of the biggest names in rap, from Diddy to Wiz Khalifa to Ludacris, it's clear this king has quite the court.

"Disappointed" is the song that features both Diddy and Ludacris. While Diddy's just there for the chorus, Ludacris is there to spit a great verse. One of his best lines is, "I can get a little cocky / Pulling off in my Kawasaki / Thousand dollar bottles of Saki / Taking shots to the head like Rocky." But, just like a true king, Los doesn't get outdone by his guests. His flow is crisp and his lines are empowering, making him stand out the most. "I move different and breathe different / Niggas cut me, I fuck around and bleed different," he says.

Another quality song is "Dope," featuring Pusha T and Yo Gotti. Yet again, the featured artists go all out, showing just how much respect they have for Los. Pusha delivers one of the best verses of any featured artist on Becoming King, saying, "King Los with the king pin / King Push about to king him / King's ransom for a kilo / Took mine and built a kingdom."

But King Los can also put together a great song by himself. "Hard Life" is one of those songs. He does the chorus himself, thanks to a little help from Auto-Tune. But it doesn't seem overdone when Los does it. And his second verse is so ridiculously good it's unbelievable. He comes in hard and quick and continues this pace throughout the verse. It's no wonder he's wearing the crown.

And the production on Becoming King is good, too. But the great thing about it is that it just seems to compliment Los. The listener can't be drawn into the production because he's so busy being drawn into Los.

Becoming King is quite ambitious, actually. Not only has Los taken on a new persona, but he's changed his being. He really is a king now. Los wasn't getting noticed enough, but thanks to Becoming King, it's all but certain King Los will be.

The Bad:

Future & FreeBand Gang - Black Woodstock

I'm not going to lie. I've gone pretty hard to some songs featuring Future. Everytime "Bugatti" by Ace Hood or "Love Me" by Lil Wayne comes on at a house party, I can't control myself. I may start shouting, "I woke up in a new Bugatti." And once I start, I can't stop.

"Hello my baby, hello my
honey, hello my ragtime bitch."

But every time I find myself in this situation, as I'm going HAM as hell, I can't help thinking, "How the hell is this dude famous?" Like, seriously, how is this dude famous? I don't get it. Maybe if he was a rapper and purely a rapper, I could get it. But he's not. That's not his call to fame. He's a singer. But in order to be a singer, don't you need to have a good voice? Apparently not, because Future sounds like a drunk frog and he still manages to do it.

I wish I could say that's harsh, but it's really not. It's the truth. Take the song "Keys" for example. He sings the chorus and he sounds horrible. Like if there was a ghetto karaoke bar, he would be performing there. But that doesn't stop Future. He just shouts out, "I know keeeeys" like it's nothing.

And then he raps the verses, but he's incomprehensible in those. I try to understand him, but I can't. I saw a comment on the album from some random Hot New Hip-Hop member saying that Future sounds like he stole Mike Jones' flow. And I can't help but notice how true that is. But why would you do that? Mike Jones' biggest song is "Who is Mike Jones?" Even Mike Jones thinks he's irrelevant.

This theme continues throughout the whole mixtape. "Take This 4 Granted" is another good example. Once again, Future sings the chorus, but this time, it's even less clear than before. He continues his singing into the verse, but it's still not clear. If you're going to release music, shouldn't it at least be possible to understand you?

But this mixtape also belongs to his crew, who apparently goes by the name "FreeBand Gang." And it's just a collection of people who are even worse than Future. The song "Blow Them Bands" is a song by Stuey Rock featuring Future. I was hoping for this to be good because most songs featuring Future manage to at least get the listener pumped up. But the beat here is just cheesy and Stuey Rock is intolerable. He sounds like a mix between a bad hair band singer and a 14-year-old who just discovered how to use Auto-Tune.

There's also a rapper on Black Woodstock that goes by the name of Casino. He might be one of the better members of the FreeBand Gang, but his flow is basically just him shouting into the microphone. Try listening to three minutes of that.

I don't think I'll ever get the hype behind Future, especially after Black Woodstock.

The Re-dic-yu-lus:

Soulja Boy - Foreign 2

What better way to end Stack That Cheese's year than with Soulja Boy? Answer: probably a lot of things. But Soulja will do.

Soulja Boy's been on Stack That Cheese before, but I spent most of the time talking about his olden days of "Crank That." Now I actually have to listen to it and just make fun of current Soulja Boy. Ugh. 

Soulja Boy's kind of like the human version of Lil B. He shouts out random sylables ("Wah!"), he makes horrible metaphors and he's just laughable. The only difference is that there is no suspicion that he's just joking around. He's completely serious. Which might make him even funnier.

Cake and a pussy. It's Soulja Boy's dream.

Take the song "Yea Yea." I don't even understand where he's trying to go with it. Over a repetitive beat, he just shouts out lines like "SBZ, I should be on the Lakers." At one point he just says, "Cake cake cake / I want that cake, cake, cake." Wait, what?

"Soulja Walk" is another fun song. The beat is better now, with some nice bass and synths that actually make it somewhat tolerable. Until Soulja starts rapping, that is. The chorus just consists of "Walk, walk, walk / Soulja walk, walk, walk" and it goes about 30 seconds too long. And his lines are just plain stupid, like "Shawty right here / All on my pants / Shawty right here / Go and do your dance." And this is all while shouting every one else's catchphrases, like "swerve," "swag" and "turn up."

There is a song featuring Sean Kingston, so that's cool, I guess? If you weren't excited for the "Crank That" nostalgia, then you should be about that "Beautiful Girls" swag. And this song, entitled "Everybody Hoe," is just up there with the sweet songs of Kingston's past, as he sings "That's not your girlfriend / That's everybody hoe." Aww, how sweet, Sean. The best part about Kingston being involved is that it gives the listener a break from Soulja Boy.

This Soulja Boy mixtape was a lot less fun than the last one. I think the further I get in years from "Crank That," the more I hate it. I can't believe I used to like, nay, love that song. I guess we all have regrets. For some, it's that embarrassing bowl cut. For me, it's Soulja Boy. Yah, trick, yah.

-X-Prime, dropping the mic for now

@xprime_time

Stars and Stripes

This week has been all about America. With the election on Tuesday, America was all everybody could talk about and how one candidate or the other was probably going to take a massive dump on it if he were to win.

And all this talk about America got me all patriotic. So this week's Stack That Cheese is all about the stars, just like the American flag.

The Good:

Nelly - Scorpio Season

Everyone knows who Nelly is. You know who he is, your grandmother knows he is, even the Amish know who he is. He's one of the biggest entertainers of the 2000s. He's made hit after hit, been in movies and has made it so that if anyone says, "It's getting hot in here," someone has to respond with, "So take off all your clothes."

But in the rap community, no one's ever going to mention him in the same breath as Tupac or The Notorious B.I.G. He's a pop rapper. He's not supposed to be as legendary as them.

So why is he in the "Good" category this week?

Simple. Because Nelly shows how big a mixtape can be.

With Scorpio Season, Nelly pulls out all the stops. He's got A-list features. He's got big-producers. He treats this mixtape as if it were an album, and that shows dedication.

There's the song "MJ" featuring B.o.B (who I've always liked better on mixtapes), which was a bonus track on B.o.B's latest album, but now it's here and I'm not going to complain. Bobby Ray sings a brilliantly catchy hook and lends his unique flow to a couple verses. He even mutters the line, "Kush in my cologne, you know the aroma," which for some reason I absolutely love.

There's "GO," which is produced by Drumma Boy ("No Hands" and "Put On" are among his most popular songs). Drumma Boy incorporates a hard drum beat, piano and horns into a fantastically produced song with a hook of, "Blow the smoke in the air" sung by Nelly. (Speaking of voting and smoke: Congratulations to Colorado and Washington.)

And for whatever reason, Nelly tucks Chris Brown away in a bonus song called "Marry Go Round," which is strangely epic. Nelly and Breezy seem to be a match made in heaven and I would love to see them together again in the near future.

The dedication shows on Scorpio Season, and with the big features, it makes a good mixtape.

The Bad:

Gudda Gudda - Guddaville 3

Okay, maybe Gudda Gudda doesn't really fall under the "star" category, but the Young Money artist has connections and he calls in some favors to get them on his latest mixtape. And that's good enough for me.

But Gudda is not good enough for me. He's actually pretty bad.

Let's start with "Drank N Smoke" with big feature number one, Wiz Khalifa. Gudda makes this song as simple as it can get, with mostly one-syllable rhymes that even Lil Poopy could come up with. And am I the only one who finds it hilarious that Wiz is being a featured on yet another song about smoking and drinking, but with a title that's just a jumbled up version of his recent song "Smokin' Drink?"

Then there's "As Da World Turns" with big feature number two, Lil Wayne. I will give this to Weezy: he does sing great choruses. But his voice has layer after layer of synthesizers over it. It's sickening.

And finally there's the pièce de résistance in "I'm Gudda" with big feature number three, 2 Chainz. (I'm coming to the realization that I'm going to be hearing a lot of 2 Chainz with this blog, and I'm strangely fine with that.) With 2 Chainz and Gudda Gudda on the same track, you know there will be plenty of awful lyrics, but none of that matters because the chorus (which repeats "I'm Gudda" multiple times before Gudda Gudda says, "I got high-cholesterol / Yeah, I got that butter") is so horrendous that I don't even care that the rest of the rap is bad, too.

Gudda Gudda digs himself into so deep of a hole with this album that no amount of stars could save him.

The Re-dic-yu-lus

Soulja Boy - Young & Flexin

This rapper needs no introduction, but I'm going to have to give one anyway because it would look awkward linking to "Crank That" right away.

So I will tell a story instead. Once there was a young lad by the name of Javier Beccia (no relation to yours truly). As a freshman at an all-boy Jesuit high school, Javier had to do a report on The Odyssey. But it wasn't like he just had to write a paper. He had to put together a presentation. What would he do?

He could put together a skit with some friends. Maybe he could do an interpretive dance. Or, maybe he could just write a rap about the book to the tune of "Crank That."

And that's exactly what young Javier did. And it was perfectly fine. Even at an all-boy Jesuit high school. Because that song had become so much a part of our society at that time, that it was acceptable anywhere.

Ok, that killed time. Now let's link this bitch!

And that was the last time nearly everyone heard from Soulja Boy. Sure, there was that "Hop up out my bed / Turn my swag ooooon" song and then, of course, "Yahh!" was kind of popular. (Or was I the only one who listened to it because I found it hilarious?) But for the most part, Soulja Boy has just started releasing mixtape after mixtape, developing a low-key underground fanbase, but never really getting into the mainstream again. (That's probably a good thing, though.)

This is my first time listening to him since his heyday, too. And I have to say, he's just as bad.

Last week, I wrote about Lil B, but what I failed to mention is that, while there's no proof of it, there is a theory out there that suggests that the Based God is just pretending to be so bad for satirical reasons. And if that is the case, I'm about 99% sure Soulja is his inspiration.

"Lebron James" is the perfect example. It starts off with a chorus of, "I'm Lebron James" that, thanks to Soulja Boy's pronunciation, eventually becomes "Ollo brawn jains." And then it opens up the first verse with, "Ballin' all you fuck niggas / Fuck niggas / You fuck niggas." And it doesn't get any better.

I guess I'm happy and all for Soulja Boy that he's still around and still making music, but I wish he didn't have to ruin rap for me while he was at it. But he did grace the world with a fun dance that I am actually capable of doing, so I guess we're even

-- Xavier Veccia, dropping the mic for now.

@xprime_time