March 2020 Playlist

My cousin and a friend of mine make monthly playlists, and I look forward to them every month. There's something that got lost as our need for immediacy increased. Everything is shared so quickly, but it isn't really shared. We're sent videos, but we watch 10 seconds of it before we move on to the next thing. There was a time when we shared mixtapes. You didn't "skip" tracks, because you couldn't. You could fast forward, sure, but did you ever? I didn't! Something about Leslie and Suraj sharing these carefully curated playlists that tugged on my mixtape heart strings, and they provided the pencil to wind me back up so I could hold enough attention to listen.

I'm sharing what I listened to the past month. I find myself often jumping around to different genres, something I've always done. I enjoy going to the ballet, I enjoy grunge-type pubs, I enjoy dimly lit lounges that serve overpriced cocktails, so why should my music taste be any different?



If you have any suggestions on what I should call this monthly series, let me know. And if you have anything you'd like to send my way, send itttttttt!

Xo,

B

CCLS!

CCLS has released a new mixtape, you can get it right HERE.

Xo, folks!

DRAGG.

THE WARM UP VOLUME 1

I was approached to check out this tape by a dude from the UK. Borrowing Cole's "The Warm Up", title, he goes by the name of Dragg, aka Sean S. Bumping it now. Simple beats, production is decent. I can definitely see dude having girls in the club going. "Visions" is the best song on the tape.
Hope we get to see dude grow!

The track listing goes as follows:
01 - Hypnotized (prod. by Flawless Tracks)
02 - Get It Got It Good Rmx (ft. Ekko, Millyz and Newz Tha Don)(Prod. by FranchiseBeats)
03 - Gettin Warmed Up Freestyle (Prod. by The Presidentz)
04 - Gettin Paper (ft. Newz Tha Don)
05 - Last Hope
06 - In The Morning (ft. Joy Bacerdo)
07 - Take You Out (ft. Amandi Music) (Prod. by J-Rum)
08 - Like This (Prod. by Dat Boi D)
09 - Dream Chaser
10 - Bring Em Out (Prod. by FranchiseBeats)
11 - Hustler's Mind State (ft. Rod) (Prod. by FranchiseBeats)
12 - Visions (Prod. by Grizzlys Beatz)

You can grab the tape for free: HERE.

ALL YOU BITCHES SUCKAS, AND ALL WE KNOW IS HUSTLE.

CCL$ - HALF-A-BABY

Ridin' around town, heads gone, causin problems!

The best thing about this tape is how fucking fun it is. If you're into driving around downtown stink facing everybody, if you're into jumping, if you're into being the person at the party who's super cool and nods mean with a beer in hand.. then this tape is for you.

It has a dirty grimey feeling, full of hilarity skits. The entire tape is complimented by simple loops and that works for it. Lowered voices and some bass take you on a journey to the bad ass inside all of us. It really brought out the inner-gangster in me. Not so much so to sell drugs or steal shit, but enough to throw some fingers in the air and feel like a boss. If that's what they were going for, shit, they succeeded.

My favorite is definitely track 5, "Blunts&Ccups". I could eat that shit for swag breakfast.

I plan to bump this while I get ready this weekend, 'cause this shit screams four loko pre-game. Go ahead, get gritty. Enjoy.

Free Download: HERE

My apologies on not posting this yesterday. Get it while it's hot!

SHE GOT THIS SHIT ON PADLOCK, THE COMBINATION, I GOT..

MIXTAPE MONDAY

ROCKIE FRESH - DRIVIN '88

I found Rockie Fresh by accident. I was honestly trying to find an A$AP ROCKY song, and stumbled upon "Drivin 88". OHHH BOYYY BUT WHENNN I DIIIIDDD..
This guy is dope...... I legit, wanna have sex with this mixtape. Like, I'd take this music, and rub it in my crotch if I could. Too much?! Listen to it and tell me otherwise.

Hosted by DJ Ill Will! The tape starts off with Rockie saying exactly what he wants. He wants to make music, and he wants the good shit. I will start off by saying flat out, this "mixtape" could have easily been an album, EASILY. This guy doesn't have a fucking care in the world, and you get that vibe from the tape.

Filled with mid-tempo beats, a chilled voice that gives you shivers, and lines that make you love music all over again, this Chicago rapper is every bit of refreshing. After we leave the intro, we head into "Drivin '88". Smooth flow and the help of Casey Veggies, you're already head bobbin.. Then we move into "Never Never". YUP! A SBTRKT SAMPLE! I nearly hit the roof with joy when I heard that shit. OH MAN. My heart is beating so fast right now just typing about it. "They thought that I would fail, they only see me making it", he says. This local rapper is blowing up, he knows it, and he deserves it.
He has punchlines, but not a lot.. and I feel like that's solely because he doesn't need them. He's saying what he feels, and it comes off right. There's just something about his flow that captures you.. You forget you're listening to a song, and you legit feel like he's talking to you. I won't get into this song by song.. I will say I'm giving it a 4.5/5. EVEN though I think the "Back to the Future" deal is a little wah. I understand that the theme works for the tape, I appreciate the movie references.. but sometimes it gets a little.. "been here". Wale already did that. AND, some of the cuts are a little messy for me. Don't take that for anything more than it is, this is probably going to be my favorite mixtape of the year. I don't see much wrong with it.. so I can't really take away from it. I just can't. I'd feel guilty if I said this is anything less than a 4.5. I even hate the song, "Turn it up", because of it's pop type sound. BUT STILL. It's a solid tape.
Regardless of THAT fact, Rockie deserves all the good talk he's getting right now. I look forward to seeing/hearing what's next. Legit this has been on rotation for over a week now.

4.5/5

Download/stream for free: HERE

ELECTRIC RELAXATION!

MIXTAPE MONDAY

BADBADNOTGOODBADBADNOTGOOD has released a live mixtape.. and it's awesome. I need to see these guys, and asap. When Alex first told me about them, he said they do live renditions, like Keys N Krates. They're more of a jazz type deal though.. so you still get that live feel, but with a more jazzy type tone. It's a nice relaxing mixtape. Not Keys N Krates, but worth it.. Well, also hailing from Toronto, these dudes do their own on live renditions well. Plus they picked damn good songs to cover. Don't you want to just take what you're hearing and eat it up with a really big spoon?

Yum.

You can stream it! DO IT RIGHT MEOW!



Grab yourself a copy, HERE

and don't thank me, thank hypetrak.

MIXTAPE MONDAY!

MIXTAPE MONDAYTHE WEEKND - THURSDAY

Let's get right into it!

The intro is incredible. This beat is aweeesome. & I love his voice in it. My only complaint about this, is the instrumentals over-powering his voice. I find that it's consistent with the entire tape.. you have to really listen, which I don't mind.. It just almost sounds like he's doing back up vocals for himself.. which.. is.. dumb. Personally, if I was editing this one, I'd take the snare out and kick up his vocals. In summary: the production on this tape is absolutely NO comparison to House of Balloons. There is no doubt with that.
I will throw down an applause for how different the production is. It's a weird, dark, questioning, nightmare, hang-over kind of sound. If that doesn't make sense to you, you haven't listened to it yet.
LIFE OF THE PARTY IS MY FAAAVORITE! Can we talk about the control Tesfaye has over his voice? The thing that stands out the most when you listen to this dude is his sound. He could do this shit acapella and still have me questioning if he's a real person.. I'm still in half belief that he's an experimental robot that escaped from Area 51 and is rebelling against the government. His voice is just.. that good. It takes you up and lifts you. It actually feels like, it lifts you. & he's definitely improved on his vocals. IS IT POSSIBLE?! Yes, it is. & he has.

When I first listened to this tape, I hated it. I was like, "What is this!?". House of Balloons is simply a tough entrance. Tesfaye certainly took his music in a new way. He wanted to keep growing, keep improving, and he wanted to put out something different. Thursday is definitely different from the House of Balloons. It just lacks consistency. There is no flow to it.. I found myself continuously checking to make sure the songs weren't on random. Each song, on its own is good.. but put all together is a little confusing for the listener. You're thrown around on a ride that leaves you confused, not knowing where to go. However, once you're ten seconds into a song, you're back in it for the ride.. and you're able to enjoy it.

The bottom line is, The Weeknd is putting out music that you won't hear anywhere, and it's damn good. If I heard this tape first, I would rate it higher.. but the House of Balloons is just a tough bar to pass.. A little too busy, a little too much. We'll see what happens when Echoes of Silence drops. Til then, it's still an amazing tape that deserves a download. Go get it.

4/5.

YESTERDAY WAS THURSDAY, NOW IT'S THE WEEKND.

THE WEEKND - THURSDAY

Please download this tape, I'll do a full review of it come Monday, but.. til then.. please download this tape..

Link? No problem.

Click THIS