Joe Budden- Mood Muzik 4Joey brings his A-game once again with his mixtape Mood Muzik 4. Working with several producers, the album's best tracks are produced by J. Cardim, but also Just Blaze and Megaman. There are several standout tracks, but overall the album has a cool vibe that is personal, dark, yet introspective, something Budden usually brings to the table, but even more so this time around. Standout tracks include Sober Up, yet another track with a slight sample reference to 2pac's "hail mary", but also featuring a dope melodic beat from j. Cardim and a hot verse from fellow slaughterhouse MC, Crooked I. Another great track is his posse cut featuring Fabolous, Royce the 5'9 and Lloyd Banks, called "Remember the Titans" A Similar track, "Desert 4 thought" featuring Pusha T & Styles P is also inmpressive. Another great track, produced by megaman & Zalezy is "Black Cloud", where Budden vents to us about various issues from girls to beef, to stardom. Some other solid tracks are stuck in the moment, produced by Just Blaze, Follow my lead feat. Joell Ortiz and Aftermath, produced by Fliccs. Overall this is not your average mixtape, and Joe Budden proves once again, that although he may have been a one-hit wonder on commercial radio, he still has alot to prove in the underground rap scene and Mood Muzik 4 is a step in the right direction for him and slaughterhouse.
Underground canadian MC, Shad's TSOL was one of the most impressive independent efforts of 2010. The album is filled with dope tracks, suitable beats from various producers. Shad proves that he can spit over a variety of laid-back beats, whether jazzy or soulful like "Lucky 1s", "Rose Garden" and "Keep Shining", or classic hip hop tracks like "A Good Name" and "Listen" or even more uptempo unique beats which he flipped nicely on "We are the ones", my favorite track off the album. His lyricism is on-point and he does a good job balancing exploring different facets through his spit, yet still keeping it relevant and relatable for wide range of listeners. If you have slept on Shad, nows the time to catch on, and his 3rd studio album, TSOL is one of 2010's best.
Soul Khan- Soul Like Khan
Soul Khan proves with "Soul Like Khan" that battle rappers can make good music. The album has no weak tracks, dope production, primarily from J57. Soul manages to combine his knowledge, vocabulary, ferociousness, humor and humbleness into this album. Every song has some kind of purpose and he is a good storyteller, as well as lyrically able. Tracks like "For That", which has Soul spittin about hip-hop and his love for the art are instant classics. While tracks like laid back tracks about the industry like "Fe La Soul" and "Minyan" are great indicators of Soul's readiness to blow, as well as his ode to LA "place that birthed me" and the funny "So I says" or the lead single "Fahrenheit" which shows Soul's more aggressive side. Soul Khan has the ability to get his message across, provide entertaining commentary while still providing dope delivery, beats and an overall impressive final product. "Soul Like Khan" was a complete album that can be played without skipping a track.
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