I'm diggin'
A-Smooth's moniker..."The New Youngest In Charge". Thing is he has the
skills to back it up which is always a good thing if you're going to
put it out there like that. Class is def in session if you're talking
mixtape skills...track list wise...not so much. Mixtapes with 80s and
90s hip hop are a dime a dozen and make it that much harder to stand
out.
The skills keep you listening tho. I mean do I want to hear "Big Poppa"
and "10 Crack Commandments"...not really but with A-Smooth cutting it
up...it's cool. He dropped a rare jewel or two in between the classics;
Tried By 12s "East Flatbush Project" for one. The rest of the tracks I
don't have to highlight because you all should know them. My favorite
part of the project was from "Get At Me Dog" thru "Real
Love"...A-Smooth kept it moving with the best of them. I'm also not
ashamed to say it was good to hear "Jump" by Kris Kross. I never wore
my clothes backwards and might have beat up a few kids that did do that
shit but the song is crazy any way you slice it.
One thing that stands out about A-Smooth to me is the fact he was
echoing out of tracks on some transitions...a lost mixtape art really.
Cats don't do it like that anymore and it was refreshing to hear. I
also like the fact you get the two-turntable vibe of A-Smooth just
going in with a stack of records...also a lost art...even if he was
using Serato or whatever. It still sounds like A-Smooth is trying to
find his niche in the mixtape game tho. There's a lot of good new music
out there and that balance between old and new is somewhere in the
middle...keep at it homie.
good mixtape