For any of you out there waiting on The Anti-Mixtape Resistance Movement to gain momentum, you’re probably better off trying to squeeze orange juice out of a ham: Ain’t gonna happen. Rappers are sticking to that ol’ formulaic hustle of releasing no-hassle mixtapes in lieu of or in preview of forthcoming LPs. No matter how much we bitch and whine about the infinite piles of pointless mixtapes on our hard drives, they’re going to keep coming as hip-hop artists gobble up the low-cost exposure.
That said, we should at least be grateful for all the free material we’ve been given and offer these mixtapes a chance, at least. September, after all, is shaping up to be an extremely active month for hip hop (Jay-Z, Raekwon, Ghostface all releasing monster albums), and if two Triangle crews can help prime us, well … more power to us Carolinians.
Last month, for no apparent reason, we flubbed and forgot to mention the release of Kooley High’s Charlie Smart’s f’alex mixtape. This time, we’re on top of things and are pleased to remind you to download Tab-One’s new mixtape The Tabloids (via LiKuid Nation), which is the second in the trilogy of mixtapes to be released by all three Kooley High emcees (Rapsody’s Prelude To Return of the B-Girl mixtape is next in-line) in preparation for the group’s heavily anticipated, The High Life LP. Here, replete with a hand-written thank you letter in chicken-scratch, some jazzy press photos, and rhymes that advertise that Tab-One is like, totally, smitten with hip-hop culture, The Tabloids deserves to be treated more like a solo LP than a mixtape.
One new release that you absolutely should treat like a mixtape is the Hall Of Justus’ Reservoir Dogs. Comprised of four emceesJozeemo, Joe Scudda, Chaundon, Rapper Big Poohthis DJ Warrior and DJ Skillz-hosted mixtape could have easily been called Vainglourious Basterds, to pun on another Tarantino title. The boasting is at an all-time high here, and if there are any emcees in NC who are fit to kidnap other artists’ beats with cool Carolina slang, these four fit the dossier. That’s not even the best part, though: Surprisingly, this mixtape actually sounds like an authentic mixtape from yesteryear, with DJs doing neat DJ tricks and stuff like that. Hooray!
