Future - Astronaut Status (Freebandz, 2011)

FREEBANDZ IN DIS BITCH! WE GON TAKE A RIDE TO PLUTA BUMPIN’ DIS ALL LOUD JUZ TO MAKE SURE OUR AHSE AWL REEEEEEL! ASKRANAWT!

Juicy J - Blue Dream & Lean (Mixtape, 2011)

Uncle Juicy stays trippy with features from Wiz Khalifa, Spaceghostpurrp, and ASAP Rocky, among other blog favorites.

Juicy J’s solo career is at an all-time high after the (somewhat unexpected) success of Rubberband Business 2. The sequel to a mostly underwhelming mixtape, RBB2 managed to bring out Juicy’s creepy uncle tendencies in a very endearing manner. The tape may’ve been a little overlong, and a little over-Luger, but it still managed to succeed thanks to more than a dozen tracks of restless Luger and Sonny Digital beats and Juicy’s natural charm. Blue Dream & Lean will be hosted by DJ Scream, and feature the aforementioned producers, as well as Southside, Juicy himself, and more. Dropping in December, this’ll certainly be a strong way to close out the year. 

Gucci Mane & Future - FreeBricks (1017 Brick Squad/Free Bandz, 2011)

Atlanta’s latest prodigal son unites with A-Town’s resident legend, and it’s mostly what I’d hoped for. Future, who still hasn’t convinced some bloggers, is on a serious roll this year; three for three with mixtapes, and all of those projects have been some of the strongest released this year. It’s amazing that he hasn’t been scooped up by a major yet with the buzz surrounding his name, especially with Tunnnnney Muhhhntanaaaaah in circulation featuring a rare rap-feature from Drake. I doubt we’ll get an actual album any time soon, but for now, Future has the mixtape circuited locked down.

Gucci’s trying to sneak back into that position alongside Future though, and he’s done a great job of since his latest release from prison. Writing On The Wall 2 was a nice reminder of what Gucci’s capable of, and all his stray tracks on mixtapes since then have been of high quality. FreeBricks continues this trend of strong releases, and with Ferrari Boyz dropping in little more than a week, it doesn’t seem like it’ll stop anytime soon.

The chemistry between Gucci and Future isn’t quite there like I’d hoped for, but both of them still bring the heat on there own. Both of them already have established partners in crime (Gucci and Waka, Future and Scooter), and it’s pretty obvious here that while they’re excited to be working together, they don’t exactly know what they want to do with eachother (||). It doesn’t take away from the quality of the tape, but it does keep it from being the classic it could’ve been. Which isn’t to say that this is an underwhelming release by any means; this’ll stay in rotation for weeks, maybe even months, to come. But it could’ve been more; something that’s not worth dwelling on, as this is more than I’d ever thought we’d get to begin with.

The majority of the tape is pretty dark; which is weird considering two of trap-music’s most light-hearted producers, Zaytoven and Mike Will share most of the production duties almost equally (with one track coming from Shawty Redd and some lesser-knowns). This isn’t a bad thing, as both Gucci and Future can make flossing sound like the gulliest thing in the world, and Gucci has always had a penchant for injecting his threats with enough menace, humor, and reality to make even the hardest rappers wince. It would’ve been nice if they balanced the fun stuff with the aggressive tone, but this seems to be the mindset both have been in for awhile.

FreeBricks isn’t perfect, but it doesn’t need to be. With some strong production and two of the most captivating rappers to ever emerge from the A, this joint collaboration will probably have far longer replay value than other joint-albums from acclaimed rappers that’ll be available within the week. Two of the A’s best rappers competing to be the most profound junkie.

sidenote: by the end of the day, I’ll probably be in love with this mixtape, and all these criticisms will be null and void. This is what happens when Gucci releases shit, though. The fanboy runs deep (pause)

side-sidenote: where does Future get his post-apocalyptic hood Road Warrior gear? He’s got fucking spiked leather sneakers. Wheredeydodatat?

Friday, July 29th at 10:17PM..

Travis Porter - Music Money Magnums (Porter House/Jive, 2011)

Music Money Magnums plays out sorta like a swag-rap opus; the type of wholly consistent project that young Leland and FIRH NAME LAH NAME could never put together, and Roscoe Dash will likely never assemble thanks to politics at Interscope. The production here is mostly handled by KB and FKi, and as KE’s proven in the past, the best swag-rap producers go strictly by initials. Despite the duties of MMM being handled almost entirely by these two (with some appearances behind the boards from Nard & B, Illfonics, M16, Big Fruit and Josh Holiday), the project never starts to drag at the result of similar-sounding songs; it just provides a strong sense of cohesiveness to the project, and everything presented here top-notch. Tinkling pianos make their presence felt amongst all the synth and hi-hats, and the 808s pound. This is the perfect sonic landscape for Travis Porter to flutter around.

The Travie trio show out here, too; though they’re still kinda hard to distinguish from one another unless you have a radical ear for detail and vocal inflection (note: I don’t, there are still Clipse verses that I mistake the Brothers Thornton for one another), that doesn’t take away from their performance here. Travis are as entertaining as always; their raps still delightfully playful, and their delivery still floating around in a state of ecstasy. The narrative of the story clearly focuses on the Magnumpart of their Holy Trinity, as the tape is dominated with sexual escapades, leaving little room for discussion considering Music and Money. Despite that, the music here is just instantly digestible; if you’re not vibing with Travie within the first five tracks, you maybe in a vegetative state. The money? Well, that’s certainly going to come in large amounts if Travis Porter’s debut album is equally this infectious.

Music Money Magnums is a very early candidate for mixtape of the year; this should’ve been saved as their Jive release, but it’s telling that they released a project this consistently enjoyable from start to finish for free on the first Wednesday of February. If you’re not down with Travie yet, this as good of place as any to start; if you’re already riding for Porter House, then you’ll be more than satisfied with Travis’ latest effort.

Also, judging by this mixtapes’ Kush and Orange Juice levels of exposure and fan support, don’t be surprised if Travis Porter becomes a household name before 2011 is over. Hopefully they can just successfully follow-up this incredible effort with a solid retail-release.