This week sucks. No one likes heading back to work after the break. Think about it, you just spent the last weekend eating, drinking, and partying with friends only to end up right back to that office or classroom with a holiday hangover.
All is not lost. You do have one thing you didn’t have last year, this very column. Tale Of The Tape is here to save your ears from the wack juice flooding the streets. You don’t have to thank me; all I ask is you save a plate for your boy next year.
Believe me, this week I earned that plate with a cup of your finest. You know I had to sit through tapes from Bow Wow and Max B? At least I got some sleep from a combination of turkey and Sheek Louch. Luckily, when I needed some Hip-Hop, The Clipse and Stat Quo gave my ears the panacea.
Bow Wow
Half Man Half Dog
Dead On Arrival
Really Shad? I thought the Rap game got rid of you when you were pulling antics like sleeping with industry bust downs and “acting” on HBO; it almost worked for Saigon. No, you couldn’t resist the microphone could you? You had to give the world Half Man Half Dog. When the best song couldn’t do much but confuse pill poppers (“Marco Polo”), maybe it’s time to go full time for those acting classes. In short, Half Man Half Dog: puppy chow.
Max B
Bloomberg Series
One & Done
Who cares about Max B? His biggest splash is dissing his former boss Jim Jones after being left in jail to rot. Since when did being a hook writer make you a full blown artist? There’s a reason dude hasn’t signed that big deal yet. The Bloomberg Series has some catchy songs (“I’m Kinda High” & “Cake”) but the rest of this tape belongs on the curb on Wednesday. Is this New York Hip-Hop coming back? I hope not, because this tape is about as wavy as The Sahara.
Sheek Louch
Extinction (Last Of A Dying Breed)
One & Done
Sheek Louch was always the weak link in The Lox crew. His flaws never stood in his rhymes exactly, it’s just he was more non-descript than a C student in the third row. I thought he had turned a corner when he released Silverback Gorilla, but Extinction (Last Of A Dying Breed) takes him back to where he was before. Some of it is good (“Gimme a Light”), but nothing sticks out. If this was extinction for his breed, I wouldn’t care. The breed of boring rap should go anyway.
Stat Quo
The Bailout
Heavy Rotation
Stand up Stat. There is a reason that this mixtape actually was premiered on this site. The Bailout really shows an extension of his skills, from social commentary (“The Bailout”), to his current situation (“My Life”), to the ladies (“G.R.I.T.S Remix”). The observations make note of Stat’s intelligence to talk more than your average murder death kill MC. He definitely makes the point that “the south has something to say”. One question remains; what the f*** was Dre waiting on?
The Clipse
Road To Til The Casket Drops
Heavy Rotation
Whenever the mixtape game is feeling uninspired, The Clipse drop some heat to revive the game again. Road To Til The Casket Drops differs in the fact that cuts the Re-Up Gang features, but it doesn’t slack on the quality. This tape gives you that pure VA dope boy flavor in their best element (“Feds Taking Pictures”). It also gives you tracks (“The Haters Wish”, “So Fly “) that take you back to Lord Willin’ and Hell Hath No Fury. Put on your Play Cloths and rock to this one, you will be for a while.
Tale Of The Tape