Tuesday 22 February 2011

Generic XXL Freshmen post

‘Thou Shalt Make A Post Commenting On The XXL Freshman Cover Where Thou Complains That _____ Isn't On It’ is now the 2nd most salient Rap Blogger Commandment of 2011 behind ‘Thou Shalt Fire Shots At Eskay’, and, as with previous Freshmen covers, half the rappers on the 2011 edition have been releasing music since 2005 which makes them less freshmen and more 25 year olds playing teenagers in a John Hughes flick. So, since I haven't seen anybody else tsk-tsking his exclusion yet, here's my entry into the cavalcade of today's XXL Freshmen blog posts where I ask where in the hell was $tarlito/All $tar since he had a regional hit in 2006 like so many other Freshmen luminaries over the years and he droped 2 of the best projects of 2010 in Renaissance Gangster and $tarlito's Way 3 : Life Insurance :

$tarlito - Until Then (2010)



Free At Last came out as precursor 'tape to $tarlito's Way 3 and where the latter worked as a legitimate album, the former was a proper rap mixtape in that it was just a bunch of crappy studio scraps, a few freestyles, and 2 joints of 'lito at his wistful best with this and Last Song. The difference between $tarlito and a lot of the other current crop of southern blog darlings is that he actually possesses a personality, and whilst the country-rap 2.0 of the rappers he often gets lumped in with has now become a cul-de-sac of UGK, 8Ball & MJG, and Goodie Mob rehashes, he uses records like Underground Legend by Lil' Flip and T.I's Trap Muzik as a vague blueprint, rather than a crutch. It obviously also doesn't hurt that he's pretty great rapper with a distinctive flow who can weave these fairly intricate rhyme-patterns which still somehow sound like streams-of-consciousness, either, but I guess he just doesn't look similar enough to a melted Big Momma's House fat-suit of Jadakiss to warrant inclusion.

BONUS SORTA RELATED BEATS :

Young Buck ft. The Outlawz - Lord Have Mercy (2009)



This is so much better than a Young Buck & The Outlawz song from 2009 should ever have the right to be, and even though I've kinda grown to love all the cliches about The Outlawz that I used to hate about them, it's near impossible to listen to this and not find yourself thinking : "oh man, why didn't Burn One save this beat for $tarlito's Renaissance Gangster?"

12 comments:

d said...

despite not hearing his musc since i was a nipper, im gonna go out on a limb and say bucks my favourite gorilla. lloyd banks has one of the most inappropriate names for a rapper ever tho, which is somethin. sounds like he should be in a crap broadsheet political cartoon with a monacle and top hat

"UGK, 8Ball & MJG, and Goodie Mob" along with oukast, how come bloggers still compare new southern rappers to these dudes? its not really helpful anymore less your talkin bout big krit. or gibbs.

d said...

3rd Rap Blogger Commandment of 2011: interview with white where he discusses his c-walk technique, how his name originated from him being jeezy's main connect throughout the nineties and how hes actually 1/19th black man, thus makin his n-wording kosher.

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

I couldn't even get an interview with Mello-T via that guy claiming to be his manager without paying $150 up front.

its not really helpful anymore less your talkin bout big krit. or gibbs.

..or KD, G. Mane, Alley Boy, Bentley etc.

Not that a couple of those don't have their merits, mind; I'd rather listen to G. Mane's better songs than 95% of Bun B's solo material.

d said...

shame. manager was prolly fugazi anyways

i agree with the comparisons its just that theyv been made so many times theyv lost all meaning, yeh i like g-mane but sometimes that deliverys a bit forced.

these rappers derivative of ugk isnt just a new nostalgia thing tho, you heard cc waterbounds first album? one of em sounds near exactly lke bun, plus pimp does production and both of them feature to add to the confusion. they do a great sour times jack ala cru

d said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfPmi6MV9yk&feature=related

the 2nd dude. its uncanny

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

Not heard that before. Nice one.

dick dross said...

naw man that actually is bun on the track

http://www.discogs.com/CC-Water-Bound-Critical-Condition/release/1793180

your point stands though

d said...

um your discogs link says otherwise. ha but the fact you believed it kinda proves my point.
one of em sounds a bit like chad too

this is the bun feature:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObuUEXokcU4&feature=related

Anonymous said...

Starlito = excellent choice

LCR said...

agreed re Lito, sort of surprised more folks didn't show more love for SW3...besides the releases you mentioned, really enjoyed Renaissance Gangster tape from last year as well

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

That was the best mixtape of 2010, imo.

LCR said...

argh, I meant to mention the Tenn-a-keyan 3.5 tape, but yeah RG is great