Recently I have been listening to a bevy of good music. From the looks of things, 2012 is going to be a good year for hip hop and we may even have a good, old fashioned hip hop battle on our hands as well. Fabolous released “There is No Competition 3 (Death Comes in 3’s)” right after Christmas 2011. Rick Ross released “Rich Forever” a few days ago. Rick Ross’ mixtape is my favorite and that includes T.I.’s mixtape.
Fab’s mixtape is the third installment in his “there is no competition” series. The mixtape is good and he definitely provides witty punch lines, as usual. Although “There is No Competition Two” is probably my favorite of the trio, the third installment is good. This mixtape definitely sounds and feels like a mixape and not like an actual album like J. Cole’s critically acclaimed “Friday Night Lights,” or Elzhi’s “Elmatic” mixtape. Unf*ckwitable is one of my favorite tracks because he seems to exclaim how he feels about his lyrics and his crew. He boasts “24/7 365 how the game dead when I’m still alive.” In another line he rhymes “You’ll would never measure up using my ruler, you more soft than a second year high schooler, my n*gga Hov told me finish my breakfast and now I’m looking at you n*ggas like breakfast.” I am not sure if the line is directed at anyone in particular, but it is one of my favorite lines. Then on Lord Knows he went in on Plaxico Burress and called him Cheddar Bob for shooting himself. He also addressed the Ray J situation in comical fashion. He rhymed “you don’t want them n*ggas in your house though, trying to see if you got indoor/outdoor.” This was in response to Ray J calling into a New York Radio station ranting and sounding like his name should be Ray J Shakur. Fab was at his best on BET trading verses with Jadakiss and the Ghost, Styles P. Listening to this track makes me want to hear another Lox album. The Lox is one of my favorite hip hop groups and they have not released an album in a very long time. She Did It goes hard as well though and he rhymes “You a G but that letter don’t fit you the best, girl you got all them curves so girl you an S.” I can respect that he has the hard tracks for the street but also shows love to the ladies. Overall, the mixtape is dope and I think he definitely created a buzz for whenever he drops another studio album.
During my Christmas break, I had a conversation with a child hood friend who works in the music industry. We discussed Rick Ross, amongst other relevant hip hop artists, and he said, and I agree, that Rick Ross makes great music and it is all about entertainment. It does not matter that he does or does not live the life he portrays in his music. One thing I will say about Ross is that he makes quality music each time he puts out an album, mixtape, or verse. I cannot say that about many artists nowadays. You can tell that he loves music and is passionate about his craft. This is refreshing to me in an era where some artists seem to care only about the next single or ringtone. “Rich Forever” is a serious mixtape and it sounds like a studio album. Triple Beam Dream might be my favorite track. As much as I like Ross, I like Nas even more and he killed the track. I think people will learn one day to not go after Nas when he is focused. He rhymed first on Raekwon’s Verbal Intercourse and as good as Rae and Ghost performed, they were a distant second to Nas. He came out strong and rhymed “a project minded individual criminal tactics, us black kids born with birth defects, we hyperactive, mentally sex-crazed dysfunctional they described us they liars, the end of the day, we f*cking survivors.” DOPE. I am also feeling the Rich Forever track featuring John Legend. It is pretty dope that he enlisted John Legend to lay vocals for the track on a mixtape that he gave to his fans for free. This track rivals the Triple Beam Dream track in my book. He starts off talking over the track and telling a story of how he came into the game with Hustlin. Then, the beat drops and he rhymes "Ciroc, no glass, smiling women in my presence, tall supermodels always fall in my possession, Atlanta Housewives taking pictures in my section, but I only have affection for young [women] with aggression."
Stay Schemin is a nice track featuring Drake. Ross was focused on this track but I could have done without French Montana’s verse. The real reason the track is so heavily discussed is because Drake responded to Common’s So Sweet diss track. I have to give Drake some credit because his verse was dope. He rhymes "That's why I see no need to compete with nigg-s like y'll, I just ask that when you see me you speak up nigg-s that's all, don't be ducking like you never wanted nothing, it's feeling like rap changed, there was a time when it was rugged, back when if a nigg- reached it was for the weapon, nowadays nigg-s reach just to sell they record"
Although his verse is hard, I think he must have neglected to research his opponent. Common went at Ice Cube on The B*tch in You. If you know anything about hip hop, you know that Cube is one of the best battle rappers of all time. Common started his rhyme off using Drake’s song, Motto against him. Then he drops the dopest line of the rap battle thus far when he rhymes “I’m taking too long with this amateur guy, you ain’t wet nobody n*gga, you Canada Dry.” I think the game needs a nice battle that will stay on wax and is all about competition between two emcees.
Peace
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