1. Mouse On Tha Track - Swagga Fresh Freddie
It's been kind of heartening to see Mouse come into his own as an artist lately while Lil Boosie's been in hot water and Trill Ent.'s been on the wane; none of the label's non-Boosie rappers were ever that great anyway and Mouse actually has a pretty nice easygoing flow. Mouse has such a bright hard sound more in the vein of Mannie Fresh than the darker, more aggressive and/or spare production style that most mainstream Southern rap producers are on these days that this whole thing just feels like a breath of fresh air, "Money And Stunting" is a blast even in the second half when he's just kind of talking shit and absent-mindedly singing the hook, and "Turn Da Beat Up" is awesome.

2. Fiend (International Jones) - Tennis Shoes & Tuxedos
Fiend is another Louisiana rap journeyman, but has been around much longer than Mouse, since the No Limit '90s heyday. And I was intrigued to hear about this weird laid back 'International Jones' project, which really makes for an enjoyable mixtape. So many aging rappers these days that try to reinvent themselves or take up an alter ego end up just making shitty rock music or R&B, so it's really refreshing to hear Fiend make very different rap music than he used to but still rap music, great beats and a great voice with tons of charisma, although the mixing and/or mastering is kinda bad and there's at least one song where the hook vocals are so far in the red that it makes my ears hurt. The way he just raps over the piano intro on "Coupe Conversing" and then all the layers come in and he just keeps that flow going is beautiful.

3. Talib Kweli - Gutter Rainbows
My decade plus of stanning for Kweli has for the most part brought little but diminishing returns, and I thought maybe I'd totally kicked the habit with the completely unremarkable Reflection Eternal reunion album last year. But then Kweli dropped a new record and I went ahead and checked it out and it's actually pretty dope. He's finally out of the major label system and this feels very relaxed yet focused in a way that wishy washy records like Beautiful Struggle and Eardrum never were. "Palookas" with Sean Price is killer and the shifting time signature on "Cold Rain" is amazing, probably my favorite rap production of the year so far. But there's still some stuff like "Mr. International" that's exactly the kind of drudgery you expect from a Kweli album.

4. Social Distortion - Hard Times And Nursery Rhymes
I've never heard a Social D album before but always loved their singles and since this dropped in the middle of the January new release drought I decided to check it out. And it's pretty damn enjoyable! These guys have been sounding grizzled and weathered for a couple decades now so they wear their age well, but instead of getting slower or sadder about it they've added some piano and female backing vocals and kind of gotten this slight '70s Stones vibe going that makes the record really fun and swinging. I never realized it but the Gaslight Anthem is kind of in their lane as much as Springsteen's. The chorus on "Gimme The Sweet And Lowdown" is killer and I love the way the outro is ripped straight from Elvis Costello's "Radio Radio."

5. Gucci Mane - Gucci 2 Time
Gucci's output has definitely not been its most inspired lately, as evidenced by the terrible title track to Gucci 2 Time that's actually being called a single but I'm sure won't be any kind of hit (although it's hilarious that he has a song like that out right after "Gucci Time," like a sequel nobody asked for). This tape has some really bad guest verses, especially whoever that is on "Valentine Day," who almost makes me want to take back all the bad things I've said about OJ Da Juiceman. But there are some joints on here, and it really cracked me up to hear Gucci say "big bucks, no whammies" on "What I Do," which also features a great Waka hook.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 20, 2011 at 12:58 PM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.