D.O.G. - Walk On Air: The Mix Tape (Invisible Set Entertainment)

When Icy Yo D.O.G. started making a name for himself just a year ago, noone seemed to really know who this dude was or how he got on the radio so quick with this slick track called "Hello." But since then he's done nothing but proven his worth over and over, quickly making the short list of Bmore MCs that could blow up for real, getting a song on a major motion picture soundtrack, putting the clubs on smash with "Ryda Gyrl," and then just recently getting a national artist, Yung Joc, on the "Ryda Gyrl" remix in time for the album. I don't have a copy of the remix but it's all over the radio right now, but I gotta say, I was skeptical but Joc's verse is tight and suits the song really well.

The Champagne Dreams album has been a long time coming, if you have The Prequel mixtape then you remember that last year he was shouting out a December release date. But they've now got their eye on a July release date and hopefully are gonna stick with that. Invisible Set were just getting their business straight, clearing samples and getting ready to really push this thing far, and already based on all the songs I've heard from it, I can tell you it's gonna be one of the must-have Baltimore albums of the year.

Walk On Air kinda feels like a quickie placeholder, just something to keep moving units on while the "Ryda Gyrl" buzz is strong, at less than 40 minutes long with a lot of minute-long snippets of songs. So you might wanna save your money for the album, but it's still a good listen and has some hot songs that weren't on the last mixtape, and freestyles over well chosen beats like "Trap Star" and "Wet Wipes." Plus, there's a bonus DVD that features videos for "Hello" and "Higher" and "Soldier," and performance footage from when D.O.G. opened for Beanie Sigel at Hammerjacks a while back. So, it's not a real essential mixtape, but it's something hot to listen to while waiting for the album. C Love posted about it a while back, too.

D.O.G. - "Ryda Gyrl" (mp3)
I've talked about it before but never posted it, and this is the full song, the song that's gotten 23 thousand plays on MySpace, a few hundred spins on 92Q, and is only gonna get bigger from here. I'm betting this will be the most downloaded track I've posted since that Huli Shallone song.

D.O.G. f/ Raheem Devaughn - "Oldie But Goodie" (mp3)
This is only a little more than a minute of it, but it's his next single, going back to the grown and sexy style but I like this more than "Hello."

Labels: Baltimore club, D.O.G., mixtape/album review, mp3