Real On Purpose Entertainment presents The Movement, Volume #2 - voted best mixtape in the City Paper's 2004 Best Of Baltimore issue. Double CD, 57 tracks, all different artists, almost every MC in the city that's made a name for themselves and a lot that haven't. No song titles, just track numbers and artist names, but it's mostly freestyles anyway. Some highlights:
Disc 1
1. Ogun
Ogun is the guy who put it all together, so of course he's right up front, big hyper intro, putting the city up, getting shoutouts on every other track.
2. Tim Trees
There's this quality to his rhymes, he switches up his patterns like every other line so that the flow isn't really consistent, but he scoops his voice into every single change up and recovers perfectly so that it sounds completely natural, and he just keeps going and going. NYC-sounding piano beat, don't know if it's original or something I should recognize.
Hook: No club shit, no club shit, no club shit, it's strictly gangsta shit, no club shit, no club shit, no club shit, it's strictly gangsta shit
verse 1: yo, this is the one from the man that y'all weak niggas love to hate, the street nigga with the blood of a snake, I creep niggas with 38's, red mask ang gloves so a nigga can avoid a case, motherfucker if I smack you, you'll cry, if you smack me, you'll die, with a black eye, pack 5, buck shots and hollow tips fly, hit that, split that, rip that guy, catch me slipped I, I don't get that high, I picks the joint up and puts down that la, yes I, am the one you don't wanna try, slugs burn through ya head like a perm, no lie, don't know me, then please keep my name out ya mouth, 'cause I'm known for punchin' lames in they mouth, you don't wanna get banged in ya mouth, that shiny metal thang in ya mouth, you don't wanna feel that rang in ya mouth, listen up, bitches, Wayne in the house, I do G shit that y'all faggot rap niggas claim you about, you want it you got, got a gun nigga then pop it, I'm a pimp in this game and y'all whores is outta profit
hook
verse 2: the only thing y'all niggas poppin' is E's, talkin' shit but you not gon' squeeze, want beef, nigga, holla at me, got that brand new gloc off me, my little niggas keep choppas, B, break you off somethin' properly, slow your roll, niggas musta heard "Bankrolls" and got it twisted, I ain't spit that for y'all rappin' ass niggas, mayne, I spit that for y'all pigeons, I pull toast, most get ghost with the swiftness, I ain't got a Benz but I'm on the road to riches, can't ya see, y'all muthafuckas need me, niggas hatin' mine, blind to the facts like Stevie, I make this look easy, y'all niggas is cheesy, you can't fuck with TT, throw beef, come see me, if I stand, gloc in hand, rock you, my block, we gon' pop pop blam blam your sedan, I'm not your man, so I won't regret it, you get hit the fuck up and left wet instead, niggas ain't learn from Pac and Big, so now I gotta pop his wig, I ain't wanna rock his head, but he bust me to the point once it's on, Farakhan passed on ya kid, I don't think you know what block this is, you don't wanna wind up wakin' up in a Johns Hopkins bed, in debt, owin' me a pound of flesh, a pint of blood, leave set, cuz, you ain't a thug, ain't you ever felt the pain of a slug, you know that point blank range bang bang, nigga (fades out as he keeps going)
7. Backland
On some obscure Neptunes beat that I can't recognize, that high, hiccupy voice, classic example of the Baltimore accent where "oo" vowel sounds are pronounced in a weird way kind of like "ew" but not quite, he really emphasizes it when he ends lines with words like "do" and "you".
8. Comp
Over the Jay-Z "La La La" beat, he does this cool trick where his voice starts sounding angrier and more intense when it gets to the chorus part where the distorted synth comes in, and as soon as it disappears he calms down.
15. N.E.K.
North East Kings are Bossman's crew, but I don't know why this track is credited to them when I'm pretty sure he does all the verses on this, and he's got more name recognition as a solo artist than the group does at this point. But anyway this is nice, kind of a better attempt at a club track than the song I was talking about the other day.
16. DJ Danny Class/CLAYWAY
Little Clayway is kinda big around Baltimore, posters for his album everywhere, always doing radio spots, but I've never really felt the stuff I've heard. This is alright, though, smooth flow, some funny lines like "I gotta keep the benjamins, so if I treat you to dinner we can sliiide up in Bennigan's".
17. PX
Goofy semi-straightforward conceptual track about "dickrider's disease" over a gothic beat with "Hail Mary"-type bells (Major Noise does a song over the actual "Hail Mary" beat on track 9).
23. Tate the Arsenal
Dude shouting blocky rhymes in that angry white rapper voice like when Eminem gets brolic. There's one in every city.
Disc 2
1. Intro (Maleka)
"What's your name, what's your name, what's your name? Maleka How old are you? I'm 8. And where you from? Baltimore. So what is your talent, what are you about to do today? Rap. You gonna RAP? You can rap? And how old are you? 8. Alright, check it out, I want you to take your time (8!), speak your mind, what you got to say to the people? Wassup. Yo, yo, yo, it be the one and only, y'all ain't ready for me, I been rhymin' freestylin' since the age of 3, this is not a test, so yes I'll rock your world, and you cats lookin' shook 'cause I'm an 8 year old girl, I been doin' my thing on the M-I-C, first person get crowned from Bmore, see, I get down and gritty, if heads wanna battle I'ma-- HOLD UP HOLD UP what's your name? Maleka And how old are you...
Disc 2 is more consistent but there's not as many recognizable names or standout tracks. There's this terrible static that starts to gradually increase during the last 20-30 minutes of both discs, like they must've tried to burn 80 minutes of music to discs that aren't supposed to hold that much or something. It's not that bad at first but it gets worse and worse until the last dozen tracks on both discs are pretty much unlistenable. But most of the bigger names are frontloaded anyway.

Labels: Backland, Bossman, Brown F.I.S.H., Comp, Little Clayway, mixtape/album review, Ogun, PX, Tim Trees