Sunday, July 4, 2010

Best Rapper (Mixtape Review) - Soulja Boy

1.DJ Holiday Intro | 0:39 | .25
2.Digital | 4:06 | 1.5 - 1.75 (Produced by Lex Luger)
Lex Luger reuses the B.M.F melody, just into a more, “trap” setting for Soulja Boy to self-parody the gangster rapper on. His voice sounds like he’s trying to make an impression, which is hilarious.
Take Off | 3:40 | 2.75
“Clipse & Pharrell, Tony hawk, a lot of grindin.”
The Blues | 3:35 | 1 (Produced by Lex Luger)
I know he’s saying “drank” but it sounds like “Drake.” The last verse he emulates the Lil’ B style, just without the Lil’ B.
All (Featuring Waka Flocka Flame & Lil’ B) | 3:25 | 1 - 1.25 (Produced by G5 Kids)
I can see what Soulja Boy likes in Lil’ B, which is the fact that Lil’ B can get away with saying abominally retarded shit and make people (like me) still listen to him.
I’m Boomin’ | 3:50 | 2 (Produced by Lex Luger)
Soulja Boy sounds weird on this track.
Pretty Boy Swag (Remix) (Featuring Gucci Mane) | 4:42 | 3.5 - 3.75 (Produced by G5 Kids)
As much as I would love to front, this song is the shit.
Best Rapper Freestyle | 3:26 | .25
“Soulja tell them he’s really the king, so what the fork are you really saying.” I’m done.
Rich Girl (Featuring Justin Bieber) | 4:38 | 2
10. What About My Clientele | 3:29 | .5 - .75 (Produced by Lex Luger)
Sounds like every other Lex Luger track, and this the only time I’ve heard him outside of B.M.F.
Fresh! Fresh! | 3:10 | .75 - 1
“Life is a gamble, and I’m gambling.” Poetic.
Mall Of America | 2:41 | .75
Points for having a different production. But this song is retarded, just retarded.
Dope Boy Swag | 1:14 | 1.5 - 1.75
“This here is my, wait for it .... dope boy swag.” Yeah, he even allows us to fill in the obvious. It is rather catchy, and length helps.
Young Boss Music | 3:14 | 1.25
I love how there’s a Rick Ross drop in a song where the song tries to do a straight Rick Ross feeling. I meant, a really bootleg Rick Ross.
In The Club (Featuring J-Bar) | 3:42 | 1 - 1.25
Original.
Touchdown | 3:53 | .5 - .75
So original that he “raps like Gucci Mane.” That’s obviously an insult.

Overall Rating: 20.25 - 22.5 | 1.3 / 5 | 25 - 28% | Terrible; DON’T EVEN BOTHER

I reviewed a Soujla Boy mixtape.

Now, there’s so many introductory lines that I could say right now, like the fact that Soujla Boy’s latest mixtape is called “Best Rapper,” or the fact that Soulja Boy has an apparent lack of talent, but the possiblities are endless.

Really, the only reason that I even glanced at this mixtape was because there was much production from a recent rookie, Lex Luger, who did the absolute banger, B.M.F with Rick Ross, so I was interested to see what he would provide the (heavily stated throughout this mixtape) nineteen year old kid.

The problem that I see with Soulja Boy is that he has two kinds of personas, one that appeals to the traphouses / dope boys and girls, and also the teenybopper / general teenager population. While I don’t see a problem in that general aspect, it’s how he appeals to them. Soujla Boy’s demeanor, his attitude of these dopeboy songs (What About My Clientele, Digital, I’m Boomin, Dope Boy Swag), seem like parodies, mostly because he switches his voice around, and also the fact he’s not really describing much, except himself and the ideas / things related to him. I’m pretty sure people just absolutely love people talking about themselves through the whole mixtape.

While there’s the teenager population that happens to listen to Soujla Boy. I believe, with me being part of this general population, I would be more forgiving of DeAndre’s obvious lyricism. Generally, with the three songs mainly being aimed towards my generation (Rich Girl, Fresh! Fresh!, and Mall Of America) were generally worse than the actual album in general. I’m not going to discuss Fresh! Fresh! and Mall Of America, because I just don’t, but Rich Girl, the latest Justin Bieber / rapper track just goes to show that even Soulja Boy alone cannot appeal to the masses like he did with the past two times. Honestly, it’s not Justin Bieber that ruins the song, he tries to keep within his general range of subject matter, trying not to take too many risks. However, Soujla Boy, he just wants to go with anything that seems “cool,” with innumerable moments that just take a toll for the worse as the song goes on. Obviously, this is going to be a hit, but why?

I really dont’ need this much time spending what you should’ve already known from the start, but there are moments where I forgive Soujla Boy. These are two moments, specifically one where he goes all rapping mode, and another song where Soujla Boy is in his own environment. Take Off, is specifically a song I can forgive, because you can’t really blame DeAndre for trying to pedastal the song with just his own rapping. The production has some variation throughout the song, which is nice. My personal favorite, Pretty Boy Swag, especially benefits from the stellar Gucci Mane verse, and the fact that Soulja Boy fits in to these kinds of songs, twinkling piano keys, and some other minimalist production. Call it a guilty pleasure, but it’s not a bad song as a whole.

There is a problem with Lex Luger now that I listened to this tape. All his productions sound similar, and almost everyone of them have that really, gigantic bass, but yet all of Lex Luger’s productions tries to make the artist sound important, thus people like Rick Ross & Soulja Boy infinitely need this person. Lex Luger’s productions are definitely the highlight, but they tend to sound rather similar, thus getting rather dull.

So as Soulja Boy put it, “what the fork are you really sayin’” Relevance? I should be the best reviewer alive, just for doing this heroic deed. That's what the fork I'm really saying.

No comments:

Post a Comment