Any release from Beat Garden gets a hard look from me, period. But this latest mixtape is cool because it’s their first by a non-Clean Guns artist, so it’s got a little bit of a different sound from the usual (but still great) Beat Garden joints. What it has in common with other Beat Garden mixtapes, though, is the variety of beats that it (ahem) “borrows.” You’ll find beats by mainstreamers like OutKast and The Clipse, and underground favorites like Black Milk, RJD2, and Blockhead. The title is after the names of bombs (Fat Man and Little Boy) dropped on Hiroshima —if you’ve got more questions, see the Paul Newman movie.
Other than the pirated material, DJ Ambush does some nice drops and samples—especially on The Rapping Simpsons (see below).
As for the lyrics, I’m going to focus on a few tracks in particular. First, “Black Blood Sells” is a sort of “Stop the Violence” track, in which with lyrics that creatively call out the likes of 50 Cent and others who’ve made their reputation on dis cuts, and a great verse by Eshon Burgundy about a grandma who gets robbed then says “it’s people like you who killed my grandson/saw the blood out their ears/said this much is true/when you end my blood lines I’ll bleed just like you.”
“Gravity” is another anti-street-violence cut, with a tremendous hook: “Smoke but no ashtray/Dying in the fast lane/Bullets ricochet and we all fall down,” and the lines are spit with passion. Castro cares about what he says, and crafts his verses with attention to detail. He’s got the same kind of detailed, gangsta-poet sensibility that made Wu Tang so great. Like all of BG’s roster, the emphasis here is on the words, which makes it a little old school: We’re listening for content here, not just a hook that’ll move the crowd. There’s some of that here, but this is mostly serious rap for serious rap fans.
For fans of: Raekwon, Beat Garden and Zilla Rocca, Aesop Rock, Boot Camp Clik.
Move the crowd taster:
Lyrically def taster:
Hilarious taster:
