2007 finally gets another great mixtape! This year has been, in my view, a disappointing one for hip hop, particularly mixtapes. There’s been some good stuff, for sure: Back in January, Ghostface dropped More Fish, but that was mostly leftovers, and Haystak and Jae Millz gave decent albums. But only NaS provided a record that I’ve listened to over and over (and that was technically a late December ’06 release). The smaller labels have done a bit better: Blue Scholars, Akir and 2Tall, but not enough to make me happy. And the mixtapes . . . Well, even considering Lil’ Wayne, Andre 3000, and Clipse, the pickings have been sparse.
So it’s nice to get a really solid one. Bubba’s last album didn’t move me much at all–he tried too hard to make bangers and get famous, clearly trying to take Eminem’s place as the one Hip Hop White Boy, and he’s not Marshall. Bubba has his own voice (more of a drawl really), and should stick to his own form of Southern slang. That’s what made his first two albums so fresh.
This new mixtape isn’t as good as either of those records, which stand out in my collection, or his first mixtape with Timbaland (a masterpiece), but it’s got enough good jams on it that I’m sure I’ll still be playing it come September. I wish the tracks didn’t get so same-y towards the end, but that’s not a big problem with mixtapes, especially by Southern rappers. You might guess, being from BK and having lived in the Bay I’m partial to East Coast and West Coast.
Give it a try. Drop me a comment and let me know what you think.
01. Survive Til Ya Thrive Intro
02. Trouble
03. So Money
04. Never Scared
05. Simple Gentle Man
06. Get Tha Fuck On
07. 2 Feet 2 Inches ft. Dirt Reynolds
08. Ya Know What I Like
09. The Real Easy Way
10. 99 Plus ft. Sean T & Dirt Reynolds
11. Throw Away Money
12. Plenty Money ft. Dirt Reynolds
13. Bitch Please
14. Terrific
15. I Love Luv ft. Young Dre & Tru-Life
16. None Of My Business
17. Know Butt-Pie
18. Pocket Full Of Mid
19. Boy Look (Produced by Jazze Pha) (My favorite cut on the tape.)
And a few classic bonus Bubba cuts:
