Pusha T - Fear Of God (Mixtape Download & Review)

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My God - We've heard this. I don't see the hype in the track. He's not saying anything amazing and the beat is rather annoying. Repeating "my god" a few times doesn't constitute a chorus.

Money On My Mind - Will this guy ever change his flow? If you're going to just rap simple punchlines you have to at least have a creative flow to keep people entertained. How do you think Wayne is so successful?

I Still Wanna - This is pretty dope. I like the beat. Still the same ol' shit from Pusha. This chorus is horrible and why does it sound so funny? Ross saved the song but it seems like his vocals are way louder than Pusha's. Ab Liva had a nice verse. It's a solid track.

Feeling Myself - This sounds like that "I'm Still Fly" song Drake had with Belly. No love for the ripped off hook melody. The beat is cool, though. Get shot like a freethrow? I know some people who said lines like that when I was 16. I won't be revisiting this one.

Blow/Funk - I like the feel of this one from the beat to his flow. I just wish he could find some better subject matter. The coke talk is getting REALLY old now. Good track if you can tolerate the drug mentions. 

Cook It Down - LOL. This is sad. Not the rapping but the hook. If the hook is going to sound that bad just don't use one. This guy isn't creative at all.

Open Your Eyes - This is just boring. I think he's trying to be deep. Same flow, same lack of soul, and the same forced coke raps. I can't stomach this shit.

Can I Live - This nigga better not ruin this beat. This guy goes in the overrated rapper category along with Jadakiss and Busta Rhymes. I wonder how Jay-Z feels about this.

Raid - This beat sucks. The hook sucks. Oh, AND it features 50 cent. I'm going to skip to the next track now.

Touch It - How are you on GOOD music and still cant get good production? This beat is wack as fuck. I'm going to skip this garbage as well.

Speakers Goin Hammer - He's actually spitting on here. About time. 

Alone In Vegas - If you're going to be a shallow drug rapper be a shallow drug rapper. Don't try to randomly get deep because people, like me, wont respect it at all. It's an okay track. I just feel like nothing he says is genuine.

Overview

With all the hype I figured this mixtape would at least be decent but honestly it sucks. I've heard better projects from no name rappers on the internet. This seems like it was rushed and it seems like he didn't have much to say in the first place. I'm sure I'll see my whole timeline (twitter) praising it and what not but I don't see whats good about this at all.

The Original Dom Kennedy (MIXTAPE Review & Download)

01 INTRO

02 PLAYAS PUNCH

03 GOODBYE

04 THE HOMIES

05 TURN ME OUT

06 BET YOU WANT ME (NOW)

07 DESIGNER SH_T

08 CAN'T LET GO

09 CDC feat. Casey Veggies & cARTer

10 N_GGA 4 LIFE

11 ON THE WAY HOME

12 [BONUS] WHEN YOU SEE LOVE

Intro - The intro is a just some talking. A story.

Playas Punch - This is the definition of west coast production. Smooth with a funky bassline and some smooth synths. This was a short track. Just a verse but it was pretty dope.

Goodbye - On here he's spitting some real shit. Talking about the grind and how you have to start from nothing to get to where you want to be. I don't really care for the hook but it's not bad. Overall a solid song.

The Homies - The production on here is definitely west coast. I like the shot at Funk Flex because him taking a shot at Pac after his death was a bitch move. He's talking about his homies. This is a cool track but would be better with a real hook.

Turn Me Out - This is a cut for the females. It has a cool vibe and I like the beat. I like the verses but, again, I don't really care for the hook. By the end of the song the hook grew on me. Dope track.

Bet You Want Me (Now) - This reminds me of some Drake shit for some reason (not a bad thing). It's the beat and tempo of the flow. I really like this one. This is dope as hell. My favorite track so far.

Designer Shit - This beat is too dope. I like this a lot too. This just took over as my favorite track. I don't even have much to say. It's just a dope ass song.

Can't Let Go - OK Dom. No singing for you. This is wack. You sound like Diddy, bro.

CDC feat. Casey Veggies & cARTer - I think this is supposed to be some "A Milli" shit. It's cool. This guy Casey Veggies sucks. cARTer sucks too. I don't even know which is which but everybody except Dom was pretty wack on this one.

Nigga 4 Life - This is dope. He's spitting some real shit on here. Pac talking on the hook. I like this track too. Kind of inspirational.

On The Way Home - This sounds like Kid Cudi if it was his first time behind the mic. I'm not feeling this at all. He's rapping too old school or something. I don't know what the hell this is supposed to be.

When You See Love - This is cool. Smooth track. I like it. The hook is dope.

Conclusion

Dom is nice on the mic and he proves that on this tape. It's not Lupe level lyricism but it's good. He's just spitting everyday shit that people can feel. My main gripe is the lack of hooks but I can't be too mad because he mentioned it himself in one of the verses, stating that his focus was on "rhymes". It's definitely a nice project. It doesn't seem incomplete or anything. I just hope he has a full fledged album in the works because I want to hear him on some different shit. You can tell he didn't really have a particular aim for this tape as the subject matter stays the same on most tracks but it is good for what it is. Worth a spin so check it out at www.DopeItsDom.com

J. Cole : The Write Up (My Thoughts On His Career)

*DISCLAIMER*

This is just my review of J. Cole as an artist. It is very detailed thus it is not a short read.

The new General of the Internet Soldiers (as cosigned by Joe Budden) seems to have some of the most annoying fans in the world. Yes, J. Cole can rap. A lot of people can rap. This guy makes some of the most boring music I've ever heard. His topics range from rap to north carolina, to his weak ass struggles, to the hood, to college, and finally to the degree that we ALL know that he received from college (because he mentions it in EVERY song). 

He's been signed since 2007. He still has no buzz outside of the internet. He's basically the non emo, less lyrical version of Joe Budden. He's already getting the same treatment that Joe did except his album got to drop and it went gold. If you pay attention you would see that Jay mentions Drake more than he does his own artist. J. Cole is the perfect proof that rap ability is damn near meaningless when it comes to making good music. Even some of his fans say he needs a lot of work with making songs. A label is not going to be able to sell records based off of your lyrical ability. It just doesn't work like that. What? You thought it was still the 90s? 

Let's break down his sound. It's simple. J. Cole is a poor man's Kanye West (College Dropout era) with watered down subject matter/beats/hooks and VERY minimal songwriting ability. From the beats to the rhyme patterns it's all old 'Ye. I don't see how you can just look past the blatant style biting and from an unworthy artist nonetheless. The first thing you have to do Mr. Cole is stop doing those 24 and 32 bar verses on every song (they're fine in moderation). You're not that nice, sir (no one is). Next, you have to actually finish your beats. Third, you need to buy some hooks until you learn how to write them.

People like to compare him to Drake which is honestly a joke in my opinion. Drake was signed 2 years after J. Cole and already has a platinum debut album while Cole is wondering if his album will ever receive a release date. People will say "He's a better rapper." but is he really? Punchlines are not the only way to be lyrical. Drake may not be the most lyrical but he definitely gets his point across is a manner that isn't hazardous while operating heavy machinery. Cole seems as if he's trying so hard to impress the listener that he's actually not saying much at all. It's the exact same thing he said in his last verse and the one before it. Let's just say he is the better rapper. Who is making the better music? 

I'm all for lyricism but what happened to being complete? Jay-Z is a complete artist. Nas is/was a complete artist. Lupe is a complete artist. Even Joe (Budden), when he's not on those weak ass J Cardim beats, is a complete artist. They're all lyrical yet they know how to construct songs that don't serve as audible Ambien. At the end of the day music is music. A lot of music doesn't even have lyrics so you can't say something is good just because of "good" lyrics. If all you care about is lyrics you should hit up some local poetry readings. Leave music to the musicians. 

Don't worry, all hope is not lost. He just needs guidance but that innocent college boy rap isn't going to get him anywhere. He might want to get the fuck away from Jay too. Jay is that nigga musically but he isn't the best judge of talent (Bleek) or character (Beans). Besides I think if Cole were to go independent he could have a nice little career on some underground shit. Being on a major isn't doing anything but hindering him.