Kessino - Catch 22 The Prequel (Triumphant Music Group)

This one's been sitting in the stack of CD's on my desk for a few months, I vaguely remember seeing this guy live, I think at 5 Seasons, and getting a copy of his mixtape and listening to it once or twice, but it never really left an impression on me. Listening back to it now, I see why, because everything on here is just stiflingly generic and predictable, from the movie dialogue interludes to the beat choices to the subject matter. Dude is actually still talking about "the trap," and I barely even hear rappers from Atlanta focus on that anymore, and that's their shit. I mean some of these tracks are Kessino's earlier work from 2004 or 2005, but he's got no excuse on the new stuff. It's a shame, too, because the guy can really flow, but all the other aspects of the CD just put me to sleep. This mixtape is a prequel to Kessino's album, so maybe he's got some songs with real concepts or hooks that he's saving for that. You can buy it on his MySpace.

Kessino - "I'm Talking 2 You" (mp3)
This is dope, one of the tracks where I can really hear his potential.

Labels: mixtape/album review, mp3