September’s collection of mixtapes and videos confirm that the new kids have been digging through 20-year-old records and are being blown away by the distinctive early 90s sounds of hip hop. They’ve been adding some sugar to rap’s golden era formula and are making it their own. Boo-ya! The 90s are back!
MixTapes
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Joey Bada$$ Rejex
Little Joey Bada$$ was born in the wrong decade. He should’ve been a teen in Brooklyn in 1993 alongside NYCs finest including Wu-Tang and A Tribe Called Quest. Instead, in 2012, the 17-year-old Joey Bada$$ shares his native Brooklyn with Sleigh Bells and Grizzly Bear – the borough’s just not really the hotbed for classic hip hop MCs these days. That is until Bada$$ laced up his Timberlands, threw on a Madlib beat, held his breath and jumped back into 1997. Joey presents Rejex, the leftovers that didn’t make the cut from his praised 1999 mixtape that came out earlier this year. Just because the cuts are cast-offs doesn’t mean they lacked any lustre, I dare say the Rejex tape is better than the exalted 1999. This tape is incredible, and not just principally for the people that still say "1&2s", "got it on wax" and lovers of MF Doom and Nas. Bing bong boom bap!
Freddie Gibbs Baby Face Killa
Freddie Gibbs has got me on edge. It’s a bit unnerving that his rhymes, videos and live performances all seem to lack that faux-gangster theatrical element that MCs like Ice Cube and Snoop are so good at exploiting. The Gary, Indiana native brings such a realistic gangster presence it’s hard to make out where the line of performance and realism is drawn. Shoot – they call him Gangsta Gibbs for a reason. Gibbs’ new Baby Face Killa mixtape, features guest spots from Spaceghostpurrp, Krazie Bone, and Young Jeezy amongst others, and though you can hear Gibbs toying with more mainstream hooks, overall this mix stays true to his hard-hitting and irreverent style. However, the only thing that is off-putting about the mix is the dreadful chorus on track 4 that repeats “Money, Clothes, Hoes” – could’ve done without that yawn-inducing hook, but apart from that Baby Face Killer is tiptop.
Wacka Flocka Flame Salute Me Or Shoot Me 4 (Banned From America)
Thank the Lord that Wacka went back to the roots of his first album, Flockaveli with his new <a href=http://www.livemixtapes.com/mixtapes/3731/waka_flocka_flame_salute_me_or_shoot_me.html" target="out">Salute Me Or Shoot Me 4 (Banned From America) mixtape, and appreciatively, left the mainstream direction that his second album Triple F Life unsuccessfully attempted to go. Wacka returns with his inimitable Lil Jon-esque “yaayyyy” piercing WACKA WACKA screech, building up so much tension you think Mr Flame will detonate into a ball of fire. This mix is the perfect recipe to make some southern trap pie featuring Gucci Mane, and Chief Keef, plus lesser-known names from Waka’s Brick Squad mates. On the whole, listening to Wacka is like riding a roller coaster. Imagine inching up the biggest and tallest peak for ages, senses become increasingly heightened as the ball of stress grows in your guts as you get closer to the clouds, and time seems to stop… but the coaster and the beat never drops – perpetually leaving you feeling clammy, befuddled, excited and craving more WACKA!!!!!
Sweet Valley Eternal Champ
Wavves’ member Nathan Williams and his brother have joined forces to produce a video game inspired beeps and beats project called Sweet Valley. Their remarkable beats tape was made for the popular kids at Sweet Valley High, ‘cuz now all the cool boys want to go to prom with the duo, including Killer Mike and GZA (who are going on tour with Sweet Valley in October). Sweet Valley is a 13-track hip hop odyssey filled with trippy Tetris-esque bleeps and samples from unknown films. More Zork!
Rvidxxr Klvn Presents:2.7.5. Greatest Hits Vol.1
Spaceghostpurrp and his mates, collectively known as Rvidxxr Klvn put together this syrupy horrorcore mix to “bring this 90s shit back to light”. This mix feels haunted with all with these 90s rare mixtape ghost rappers that have been lost in time probably becoming born again’s after all their evil doings. Spaceghostpurrp is going goth and me likes it.
100s Ice Cold Perm
Berkeley, CA based 19yr old MC, 100s is one of the new rappers that prove the Bay Area hip hop world has taken a break from ghost ridin’ the whip and gone to work in the studio, notably with the likes of Joe Wax and Main Attraktionz; and steered clear of fellow Bay Area rappers like Kreayshawn and Lil B.100s debut mixtape Ice Cold Perm adoringly bites from 90s rappers including Juvenile and Silk-E. Fyne, plus pinches Snoop’s artwork from Tha Doggfather. But most apparent is his allegiance towards the 90s gangster grooves which put California on the rap map. ‘Ice Cold Perm’ is not for the lyrically righteous; this is nasty arse gangster rap that will make the PC Californians from Berkeley squeal in horror. It’s not all gangbangs and uzis though, it’s got a verse on ‘1999’ that says "dick long as my perm" – not sure what that means, but any rapper that compares his wee lad to his barnet is all right in my book.
YouTubes
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Zebra Katz ‘W8WTF’
NYCs queer rapper / fashionista Zebra Katz looks fierce in his leather S&M mask slithering around a hotel in his ‘W8WTF’ video. The cinematic eerie visuals evoke the film ‘A Single Man’ from the vintage décor, to the good-looking gay men. Just add the gimp gear and CUNT cap and it’s basically the trailer to the film.
Lil’ Mouse ‘D. Wade’
Lil Mouse, the 12-year-old rapper from Chicago caused quite a stir with his first video ‘Get Smoked’. The video shows this little boy riding around rapping about guns with a chorus that rang ‘fuck around and get smoked’. It looked and sounded absurd and was also really depressing considering Chicago’s dire gun crime statistics. So now Lil’ Mouse is back with ‘D,Wade’, a track that bigs up the rapper’s favourite basketball hero Dwayne Wade, but now adds more booty and guns, and I guess he got a drivers license too. Lil’ Mouse is a good rapper and makes pretty tight drill rap, but this is just disheartening – he needs a spanking!
Negroes On Ice ‘Textual Healing
Famed hip hop producer Prince Paul and his son make up ‘Negroes On Ice’, a hip hop play that takes the piss out of the rap world. The father/son duo put together this hilarious video ‘Textual Healing’ about pulling girls from the intenet who might turn out to a) have a long schlong b) eat dumps c) fake a pregnancy or d) kick you in the nads. Point being you can text OMG WTF in any of the above scenarious.
