Showing posts with label mixtape. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mixtape. Show all posts
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Album Review: Waka Flocka Flame - Re-up Mixtape


Waka Flocka goes hard in the motherfuckin tape on his new mix, Re-Up, an 11 track compilation with solid production and clever collaborations. His much-anticipated album, Flockaveli 2, doesn't drop til later this year, and this mix will carry you through til it's release.

 Fellow Atlanta rapper Young Scooter is featured on the 808 Mafia produced second track, "Cook Jug," and has one of the catchier hooks on the mix. Both "Lottery" and "Ain't No Problems" have that signature Waka sound, and the latter has verses from oddly charismatic ATL rapper Young Thug and Judo.

"Word to the Wise," an impeccably produced track by up and coming rapper-turned-producer Metro Boomin, is one of the strongest on the tape, and it's worth mentioning that Metro is only 19 years old. He can't get into the clubs that play his music, but that's what house parties, like the one in "Real N!gga Love," are for. Featuring the OG of putting dollar signs in your name, Too $hort, it's a banger, with Waka rapping about liquor, molly, weed, bad bitches, and turning the house into a club.

 Former graffiti artist Gepetto (government name: Brendan Hanna) mellows the mix out on "Ghetto Child," a synth-y and chill track that gives you a moment to relax before going to the next track, "Work It Like A Pro." Featuring English-Caribbean rapper Giggs, it's the perfect track to dance to like you do it in the mirror.

The tape closes with the old-school sounding, Macon Hamilton featured, "Knowledge God," a track that could easily fit in on a mixtape when they were actually tapes. It's a surprisingly solid ending to the mix, and makes up for the first track, "Fuck N!gga," which is easily my least favorite of the compilation.

 Overall, this is a solid mix that's been on repeat in my headphones for the last two days, and is available to stream and download for the low, low price of free99. 

Grade: B+



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Genecist Releases In The Beginnin' Mixtape


Buffalo MC Corey Threet - aka Genecist - is one of the most talented rappers on the local scene, and 2014 could be the year he becomes breakout artist. Genecist recently released his debut mixtape In The Beginnin', and it's a fantastic work from start to finish. Genecist's most notable attributes are his rapid flow, and a knack for clever one-liners. He raps fast enough that you'll have to listen to it multiple times just to catch all the jokes.

The lyrical themes on this on In The Beginnin' range from the serious to self-deprecating. This is particularly evident on "Wise Man Say," a clever spin on "Can't Help Fallin' In Love" in which Threet both jokes about his troubles with the opposite sex, while also considering the role racism might have played. It would be fair to see Genecist takes after the recent generation of vulnerable MCs such as Drake, or Kid Cudi rather than the old-school braggadocio. Like them, he has no problem sharing with his pain with listeners, and when the album raps up, we've learned a lot more about Threet than we would if he had chose to simply put up a front.

Some of the album's humor is implied in subtle ways At one point, he asks his listeners to follow on Twitter, but does so in a way that makes it seem like he feels a bit silly doing so. It seems like a sly reference to all the awkward self-promotion up-and-coming artist is forced to do to make a name for themselves - the self-promotional tweets and Facebook statuses that might annoy certain people, but hey, how else are you going to get the word out? It's a problem local and regional artists from all genres are routinely faced with, and whether intentional or not, Threet does a fine job of expressing the difficult position these artists often find themselves in with regards to promoting their work.

The mixtape's standout track is "Local Celebrity," a song that finds Threet celebrating his newfound fame, while also discussing some of the awkward moments it's produced. While there are 17 tracks on In The Beginnin', all of them are strong and the album is a breeze to listen to. In recent months, Genecist has a greater and greater presence on the Buffalo hip-hop scene, and with this excellent new mixtape, he has the potential to break out even further than that. At only 20, Threet has a long career ahead of him, and he's certainly off to a fine start.


John Hugar
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Check Out Medison's Winter 2013 Mixtape


There is only one day remaining in this year, and a million more days to enjoy Medison’s 2013 Winter Mixtape. Released five days ago, Buffalo’s DJ Medison shows exemplary talent and fun in this new mix available to stream on his SoundCloud page.

The opening guitar riff puts a chuckle in the belly so you know its going to be amusing. Then after warming the Hip-Hop vibe, around the 9 minute mark Medison drops into this crazy Jersey Club and Juke combo with a DJ Irresistible edit of Trinidad James' “All Gold Everything.” My favorite part of the mix is at the 23:28 mark when we hear the Baaze remix of Yheti's “Crack the Window.” That song is nutty, like exhaling smoke and watching it dissipate out of a cracked car window with that unique and breathy synth line that totally trips you out! 

 Medsion then transitions perfectly to Thrizzo's “Hotter Than Hot” and follows that up with SwaggleRock edit of the Baauer x RL Grime x Nelly's “Infinite Flaps” mashup. That part of the mix is so fun and so weird that it makes Blake Anderson momentarily enter your soul to dance in a bear suit! If you’re searching for something to listen to for that pre-game New Year’s Eve Party, this is an upbeat power hour. Of course if you like this, do NOT forget to check out WaxMusemRadio where you can hear DJ Medison every Thursday from 5-6 pm.




james wild
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Rochester's Crushes Drops Pour Vous Mixtape


Just in time for the weekend, Rochester synth duo, Crushes, have released their latest mixtape. Titled Pour Vous, the 30+ min mix features cuts from Toro Y Moi, Cut Copy, St. Lucia, and more. Crushes' Lulu and David Lee Rad, who just appeared as part of our Heavy Rotation lineup at last month's Mass Appeal after-party, will be our house DJs for our third annual holiday party at Duke's later this month on Saturday, December 21st. Make sure to stop by to check them out. You may stream/download the Pour Vous mixtape for free below.



~ Photo by Ethan Calabrese Photography
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Interview: Buzz Trillington & Shooter McNappin


If someone mentioned to you the names Buzz Trillington and Shooter McNappin, you may think that there is a new thug version of Looney Tunes.  Instead, these are the new aliases developed by Steve Brown and Dom Calvello, more known locally as the duo SwaggleRock. They have just released a new mixtape entitled Brassknuckles. Really, the work is an EP. It is called a mixtape because it was released on ClubTapes.com, which is a mixtape hub that contacted them to release their new work. Together, the duo got their start spinning for the college crowd at Ultra nightclub on 3rd Street in Niagara Falls, and moved to become resident DJs at various nightclubs on Chippewa. They have come a long way in a short time period. We sat down with the two to discuss their new release, and among other things, branding and social media in the artistic community of Buffalo.

buffaBLOG: What was the importance of developing these alter-egos and branding yourselves in a different way from SwaggleRock?
SB: It was partly due to Buffalo
DC: At first it was a social experiment. People in Buffalo really like to take notice of you once you get outside of Buffalo
SB: Once you get to a certain point in Buffalo, people just stop.
DC: I said to Steve one day, "How can we remove the bias? People don't take you seriously if you're not from a big city."

buffaBLOG: Do you feel like hitting that ceiling is something that a lot of local artists struggle with?
SB: Yeah, and then they just stop.
DC: People get frustrated. Buzz Trillington came first.
SB: I didn't even tell him
DC: He didn't even tell me. Cause I said to him, we could probably do the (SwaggleRock) tunes we're doing right now. We started off with a couple club edits that were really born-out-of-Buffalo. We wanted to play what we wanted to play, but we were forced to play more mainstream stuff. It created a fusion style, which was kind of a compromise of what we wanted to play and what we had to play.
SB: A cross between the mainstream and underground, contradictory, but...
DC: We could probably do the same stuff we're doing now under a different name and get thousands of hits. With Swaggle, we'd only ever get a handful of hits. One day we were searching through Soundcloud looking at producers making this new trapstyle shit, and I was like, this Buzz Trillington guy is pretty cool. He's like, "I'm Buzz Trillington! Get the fuck outta here, you're not Buzz Trillington!" And he (Steve) made like three or four really dope tunes, way different from SwaggleRock and  we were like, this is it.

buffaBLOG: It's hilarious that you didn't even know it was him!
SB: I kept it on the DL for the longest time. We were looking for more attention on the producer end.

buffaBLOG: Would you say then, that also part of the reason is because before you weren't really producing before, and now you are?
SB: I love it here, but it takes a while for people to catch on.
DC: We survived as SwaggleRock in nightclubs. And when the whole Chippewa thing (referring to the 21+ regulations) changed, that was kind of a wake-up call for us that we had to take a different avenue.
SB: We were producing, but we got comfy there.

buffaBLOG: Did it push you into a new situation?
DC: Everything happens for a reason. Now, with the aliase,s we're getting outsider attention.
buffaBLOG: Is social media and following trends something that other artists could benefit from employing?
SB: Social media was/is our game-changer.
DC: It's not just the music, it's the brand around it. Buzz Trillington is cool, you don't know where he's from, you don't know what he looks like etc...we just tapped into something new, and got a little lucky with Brassknuckles.

buffaBLOG: How would you describe the music on Brassknuckles?
SB: Absolutely Hip-hoped themed.
DC: Hood rave! We're taking the coolest elements of a rave and putting that together with the coolest elements of a hood party. We're trying to attract people to our sound that one night might go to Rendezvous, and check out Gareth Emery, then go to Soundlab the next week for a Hip-Hop party. 
SB: Now its just about exploring and cementing our own sound.


Check out their Soundcloud and Facebook pages:
Buzz Trillington & Shooter McNappin will be appearing at these upcoming events:

SAT Dec 22 @ The Vault-Niagara Falls NY
SUN Dec 23 Saturnalia @ Soundlab
TUE Dec 25 Main Room-MNM presents The Christmas Party 8 @ Pearl Street Brewery
FRI Dec 28 DJ Craze @ Sinful Nightclub
SAT Dec 29 TOATS ORIG presents WE'RE ALIVE @ Soundlab
MON Dec 31 2 am-NYE @ DBGBs
SAT Jan 5 @ The Vault-Niagara Falls NY
THU Jan 31 @ Dubland Underground-Rochester NY
SAT Feb 16 Loki DnB presents Terravita & DJ Shiftee @ Ukranian Home

They will also be playing shows in Hartford, CT and Knoxville, TN in the month of February.
james wild
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