New week, new faces, but it is still The Honorable One keeping your head straight when it comes to the Tale Of The Tape. This week we keep it a little fresher than most with some names that don’t have the spotlight on them mixed with some five star generals.
Kicking off the week is mixtape warrior Sha Stimuli finishing his twelfth mixtape in twelve months. We then take it to the West Coast two times in a week for Blu and Fashawn. Tale Of The Tape finishes with Queens duo Capone N Noreaga and DJ Osk blending Hip-Hop’s good doctor and its favorite warlocks. We will not lose.
Sha Stimuli
The Break Up
Heavy Rotation
All good things must come to an end. Sha Stimuli’s run of twelve mixtapes in twelve months finishes with The Break Up. The mixtape keeps the same momentum of solid releases from the New York MC. The theme of a failing relationship is described through the music, from being unhappy (“Everybody Else”), to having kids out of wedlock (“My Baby?!?”), to cheating (“Much More”). If you haven’t had the chance to check homey out before the tracks at the bottom of the page. There is plenty of good music to find.
Blu
Soul Amazing 2
Heavy Rotation
Blu has worked hard since his first release, Below The Heavens. He was behind a couple of releases over the last year, and has been getting some pretty substantial placements. All this work culminated to being listed with nine other MC’s on XXL’s Class of 2009. His latest mixtape, Soul Amazing 2, is a good primer for people who still don’t know what the guy is about. The way he can make his story so interesting (“The Classy Man”) and tell stories from other standpoints (“For Whom The Bells Toll”), make him more than worthy enough to stand by his peers.
Fashawn
Higher Learning
Peep It
The left coast isn’t slacking on new talent. Another new jack that is grabbing attention is the Fresno California based MC Fashawn, who has recently released Higher Learning. The MC weaves tales effectively (“Day-N-Nite”) and can work the beats given to him with efficiency (“Turf Rap”). This mixtape is also laced with skits based around the movie with the same name. There are a few flaws (“Buyer’s Guide”), but overall, a pretty strong effort from the kid.
Capone N Norega
West Coast Streets On Fire
Peep It
West Coast DJ’s hooking up with New York veterans. The combination of talent on the mixtape isn’t something that you would usually see, but CNN, Felli Fel and Nik Bean aren’t ordinary. West Coast Streets On Fire however, is just as all over the place. When it works (“Rotate” & “Thug Hustlas”) the mixtape is bound to make any New York Rap fan happy. When it doesn’t (“Jumpin Out The Window”), it sums up exactly what irritates most about The Big Apple. This mixtape hits more than it misses, so fans of CNN should pick this up.
DJ Osk
Delox
Peep It
We all have been waiting for Detox. Let’s face it; it’s been delayed longer than our 40 acres and a mule. DJ Osk has tried to make a panacea to try to bridge the gap between now and the supposed 2009 release date with Delox. The blend tape combines Dr. Dre’s previous work with some of the Lox best work as a unit (“Scenerio 2008”) and on their own (“Why”). With a bunch of material to pull from, it should have been easy to make one of the better blend tapes of the year, however, there are a few tracks that just don’t work (“Pitch”). Worth a download, but this one has a high chance of catching some serious hard drive atrophy.
TALE OF THE TAPE