The Journeys of Speed

Johnthan Reviews: “ArtLyfEnt Presents ‘Playlist The DMV’ Vol. 1″ March 4, 2010

Posted by Johnthan Speed in Mixtape/Album/Song Reviews, Uncategorized.
Tags: artlyfent, bear witnez!, bread, chris barz, deepspace, dmv, emperess, hip-hop, it's da kid, JCA, k-beta, kingpin slim, koncrete, lil' rap, lola maxwell, mac, muggsy malone, navi, obii say, radio raheem, raheem devaughn, rap, rathemc, sample, sonceir, space oddity, tabi, tabi bonney, triple threat, wale, x.o
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Greetings, all.

It’s Johnthan Speed back with another review. This time, I’m going through a brand new collection put out by Greg “Arteest” Akers’ ArtLyfEnt group entitled “Playlist The DMV Vol. 1.” As the title suggest, this mixtape features some of the best DMV [Delaware, Maryland, Virginia] artists, including Wale, Tabi Bonney, and Uptown X.O., as well as some that aren’t as known–but probably should be–including Soncier (from the Yung Reek song, “Damn Man” and others), and Muggsy Malone

The mixtape starts out with a somewhat minimalistic piano-and-strings instrumental, rocked by It’s Da Kid and Bread in a song called “Blow Bombs.” The song is a fitting instrumental to the “just gotta make it” attitude present throughout this collection. Both artists ride the beat quite well and deliver a pretty good intro.

From the intro, we are transported straight into a bass-heavy, “bump-in-the-trunk,” track called “Beast” by DeepSpace and Koncrete of NP. The song, while not ground-breaking, could be a certified radio single. It has a certain late-90s braggadocio vibe to it that’s missing in a lot of “I’m the ish,” brag-heavy songs of late. Cold Beast’s (C.B) “Caution” continues this feeling, with a Southern Rap-like instrumental providing the background for C.B.’s threats that “you don’t wanna crash into [his] anger…because he’s a bullet in a chamber.” This song will remind you most of GRODT [Get Rich or Die Tryin'] 50 Cent, which, in this case, is definitely not a slight to C.B.

Lil’ Rap’s “How Could I” follows these two songs. While not a bad song, placing it after the last two tracks somewhat reduces its impact; it touches on the same issues of the last two and sounds slightly similar as well. On any other mixtape, this could be one of the highlights. Here, it’s just another song. But, to be fair, “just another song” on this mixtape still trumps many efforts.

The Soncier “How They Do Dat Dat” is a nice club banger that still takes into consideration that you don’t have to spit simple rhymes to make people dance. “DC Un!ted,” from Bear Witnez!, Wale, and Kingpin Slim marks a return of “mixtape Wale” (he sounds like he’s having a little more fun here than on “Attention: Deficit”). Bear Witnez! throws in the gangsta element, which is needed to show the many facets of DC rappers. And finally, Kingpin Slim’s Hov-esque flow and lyrics gives us a lovely ending to the song, a “big band” sample over heavy bass, kicks and snares.

K-BETA’s “Black Business” sports a somewhat obscure sample (Christophe’s “The Girl from Salina” gets flipped and turned on its head). The song will remind you a bit of a mix between Beanie Sigel and, well, that DMV flavor. Telling a dark story of the hustler, K-BETA points out that hustling doesn’t always equate to glamor, and love from everyone. From here, we are transported into a lush instrumental produced by E-Minah ripped to shreds by Muggsy Malone on “M-U-Double G-S-Y,” which serves as, well, an introduction to Malone for those that have yet to hear of his tracks. A highlight of this track is this line:

“Focusing on being an owner, while you’re like Mrs. Rice/You’re just, some Condoleezza (kind of leaser)”

With just that line, the song became one of my favorites off the mixtape.

Chris Barz, on first glance, sounds like Wayne. But, as with most, the real treasure is when you look into the song. Barz’ “Fall (Keep Movin’)” really pays homage to Lupe, Slick Rick and Q-Tip’s love of storytelling. This is my favorite song off of the mixtape because of the vibe, the flow, the instrumental–everything.

The Infinite Legacy-produced track “Far Above the World,” features Mac and University of Maryland alum JCA and a nice use of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.” In this track, both artists reflect on what has made them who they are and have become, saying that because of who they are and what they’ve seen, “you know [they'll] take it far above the world.” Mac’s personification of hip-hop as a woman tells a somewhat chilling story of an abusive love-hate relationship between the artist (any artist) and the music.

From here, we’re given a string of radio bangers. The first has gotten radio play recently in mixes, Tabi Bonney and Radio Raheem’s [Raheem DeVaughn, of course] “Fever.” Tabi’s sleepy flow serves well on this slow jam-like track, and Raheem kills it–as usual. M1 Platoon’s “So Fly (They Wondering)” is more than your typical “I have more swag than you” track. The lyrics actually are somewhat anti-swag, if that makes any sense. It’s a definite listen. Obii Say’s “Dogfight” is one of the shortest tracks on the mixtape, and leaves you wanting more. The jazzy beat and Obii’s flow draw you in, and as soon as the song is at it’s highest point, it’s over. It’s kind of a letdown in that sense, but it makes you want to find more of this guy and listen.

RAtheMC’s “Lost One” featuring Pro’Verb will remind you, straight up, of Lauryn Hill’s singing and lyricism and Da Brat and Rah Digga’s delivery. This is one of the hottest female MC-helmed tracks of the year, DMV or otherwise. In an arena ran by the likes of Nicki Minaj and Trina, the song is a breath of fresh air. Right after this song, we are treated to another “femcee” track, Lola Maxwell’s “Silver Lining.” These two tracks make me want more female rappers to spit about something other that how well they can perform sexual acts. Emperess’ “Unstoppable” tells you why she is, and makes you believe that she is unstoppable. And, Triple Threat’s “I Heard” will make you think you of, and miss, the days when MC Lyte and Queen Latifah reigned supreme.

After the four-track mixtape-within-a-mixtape, Navi’s “This Room” tells a story of a rapper trying to deal with, well, everything. His flow and delivery forces you to listen to him, something that’s also lacking in many newer tracks. Wale delivers another banger “The Meeting,” which seems to answer every doubter and hater that has ever doubted and hated him. I wish that this song would’ve been on “A:D” as it would’ve sold quite a few copies JUST ON THIS SONG.

The mixtape concludes with an X.O. track “Fast Life,” a seemingly bouncy track detailing how–and why–X.O. does what he does. His flow here reminds me of a young Jay-Z (think 1994 to “Reasonable Doubt”-era Jigga) and the beat keeps you in the track if the actual song doesn’t. Granted, that SHOULDN’T happen, but hey. The beat will bring you back into the lyrics, so it all works out. And when this happens, you are rewarded with the fact that the song ISN’T just another story of the hustler, but more of a cautionary tale of what’s to come if our young people continue down the road of the “fast life.”

Overall, “ArtLyfEnt Presents ‘Playlist The DMV’ Vol. 1″ is not a mixtape to be missed, especially if you want to be up on the latest in DMV music. Vol. 2 should drop in a couple of months, so go out and scoop this one up before then–preferably ASAP.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

Just do a search on DatPiff or Google Search it. I don’t care how you find it, just FIND IT and put it in your iTunes.
-Speed