various artists - Baltimore Beat Bangers, Vol. 1 (Wisdom Court Ent.)

I was very interested to hear about this project, basically an all-star instrumental mixtape full of beats from some of Baltimore's best rap producers, because it's just kind of unprecedented in this scene. Obviously producers are always passing around CDs of beats looking to work with MCs, but other than a couple instrumental albums I've gotten from Ron Rico and Me'Aze Millioni they don't seem very commonplace, certainly not a compilation full of beats by different producers like Imahj put together for different projects. As the host, Ambush, says on teh intro, “we bringin’ beat tapes back.” There's some unfamiliar names on here as well as some producers you've probably heard of like Banga Bill, Ms. Tris Beats and Heist, as well as some rappers who produce a lot of their own stuff like Skarr Akbar, PenDragon, Sean Toure and Street Scott aka Street Heat. And everyone gave their tracks titles, so it's a little easier to visualize them as becoming songs or already being songs when they have evocative names like "Ice In My Veins" or "Devilish." The “you are now listening to the sounds of Baltimore Beat Bangers” tag all over every track gets a little annoying, but I understand if that’s the way producers gotta protect their tracks from getting jacked and used without getting paid for first. It'll be interesting to see how many of the beats on this CD get turned into songs by rappers in the next year or so. You can download Baltimore Beat Bangers at AllBmoreHipHop.com and the release party is at Club Reality this week.

Ms. Tris - “Get With This” (mp3)
Ms. Tris is such a versatile producer, this one stood out to me as soon as I heard it but I wouldn’t have guessed it was her,has a very contemporary radio-friendly sound but still really detailed and unique.

Labels: ALLBMOREHIPHOP.COM, Banga Bill, mixtape/album review, mp3, Ms. Tris Beats, PenDragon, Sean Toure, Skarr Akbar, Street Heat

Billo's new mixtape Falling Off Into 1st is coming soon, and here's a video for "Don't Ask Me" featuring Bear (who's going by Don Cornelius now, but that's a terrible idea, I can't call him that).

Labels: Banga Bill, Bear, video

A couple months ago I posted Ace's single "Story To Tell," featuring Will Starr and produced by Banga Bill, and here's the video for the track.

Labels: Ace, Banga Bill, video

Ace f/ Will Star - "Story To Tell" (mp3)
Ace from For The People Entertainment is gearing up to release a new album, Minority Report, and this is the first single, which is produced by Banga Bill and which I mentioned in his Best of Baltimore blurb. You might've heard a snippet of it on Street Radio Vol. 4 but this is the full song. FTP is opening for Black Sheep at The Quarter net week.

Labels: Ace, Banga Bill, For The People Entertainment, mp3

The City Paper's big annual Best of Baltimore issue is out today. These are the winners that I wrote the blurbs for:

Best Club Music Producer: DJ Class
Best Club Music DJ: DJ Pierre
Best Hip-Hop DJ: DJ Jay Claxton
Best Beat Maker: Banga Bill
Best Male MC: Mullyman
Best Female MC: Ms. Stress
Best Solo Artist: The Bow-Legged Gorilla
Best Song: P-Shellz "Fingaz Down (The Hack Anthem)"
Best Summer Jam: Comp "Whole Lat"
Best Label: Mania Music Group
Best Music Promoter: Tay Tay of Tay-land Promotions
Best Place To Hear Hip-Hop: Sonar

Also allbmorehiphop and a lot of other worthy people got awards. The BOB party is tonight, and I didn't have any luck getting mailing addresses for some of the people above to send invitations, so maybe if any of those people e-mail me ASAP I can help them out or give them my extra ticket.

Labels: ALLBMOREHIPHOP.COM, Baltimore City Paper, Baltimore club, Banga Bill, Bow-Legged Gorilla, Comp, DJ Class, DJ Pierre, Mania Music Group, Ms. Stress, Mullyman, P-Shellz, Sonar, Tayland Promotions

Mullyman - wiRemix Volume 3: I Go Harder Edition (DJ Booman/Major League Unlimited)

You already know the deal, Mullyman's been dropping music at a crazy rate for the past year or so and these mixtapes are really more of a review or look back at what he's had out than really new music in and of themselves. That's not a bad thing at all, since it's good to have all these tracks collected somewhere, but it also means by the time the mix is out it's all old news to me and I don't get as excited about it. If you're not on his or Booman's mailing list to get the latest tracks, though, this is really worth checking out. Some of the songs on here that I've previously posted include "I'm All About It" featuring Smash and Mully's version of DJ Class's "I'm The Ish,", along with old tracks produced by DJ Booman, Banga Bill and Debonair Samir. It's available for download at allbmorehiphop.com/mullyman.

Mullyman - "Imma Be More" (mp3)
The tracklist to this mixtape says this track was produced by DJ Booman, but I think that's a typo, because when the track was first e-mailed out in March it was supposedly produced by Mbah. Either way, hot track.

Labels: ALLBMOREHIPHOP.COM, Baltimore club, Banga Bill, Debonair Samir, DJ Booman, DJ Class, mixtape/album review, mp3, Mullyman, Smash

Architects Recording Studio presents Street Radio Vol. 4 (DJ Radio)

The 5th installment of the Street Radio series (there was a Volume 2.5 in there for some reason) comes about 3 years after the last one, and it seems like the series coming back after such a long dormant period is all part of the big push that Architects has been making behind AllBmoreHipHop.com and all the releases being pushed through there. And it seems like they're going at this all the way since the next volume is already being put together. This has kind of a good mix of familiar and unfamiliar names, has a few songs I've posted here like Bossman's "Break Me Off" remix, Ogun's "Go Long," and Mullyman's "Bmore Go Harder", and tracks by Skarr Akbar, 100 Grandman, Barnes, EJ, NOE, Heavy Gold, Banga Bill, and a lot of other folks I haven't really heard before or much. It's kind of a hodge podge, as any various artist mixtape will inevitably be, but some good tracks on here, some people I might have to check out based on this. There's two tracks with "swagg" in the title, which I should probably consider a good thing given how many more there could've been. You can download it, and the previous Street Radio mixtapes, on allbmorehiphop.com/architects.html.

Dave Da Barber - "I'm So Baltimore" (mp3)
I remember seeing 1st Fam perform this at the Black Hole a while back and it went over really well.

Labels: 100 Grandman, 1st Family, ALLBMOREHIPHOP.COM, Architects, Banga Bill, Barnes, Bossman, DJ Radio, EJ, Heavy Gold, Mullyman, NOE, Ogun, Skarr Akbar, Street Radio

K-Mack - Night Ryda (Knokville Entertainment/Banga Bill Enterprise)

This week in the City Paper I have a feature on K-Mack, going back through his whole history with the Annexx Clique in the '90s up to his new solo album. And I gotta be honest, this is the first article I've ever done about an artist where they straight up told me they hated it, hated the story and the light it put them in and the quotes I chose, hated the headline and the photo. I feel bad, just because as far as I know I've always had a pretty good track record and don't think there are a lot of people who can say they regret sitting down with me for an interview, although who knows really. I mean I can't control how people feel when I review their stuff but when I'm using someone's own words to profile them, I dunno, it's a shame they weren't happy with the final product, although he was cool about it, didn't get too over the top, just told me how he felt. Anyway, I don't wanna dwell on all that too much, I stand by the article and I thought it was important to tell his story, I'm just saying take it with a grain of salt since K-Mack wasn't happy with it and I understand his reservations. The album is pretty great, and is available for free on ALLBMOREHIPHOP.com, where it ranked in the top 5 downloads in the site's first week, and it features production by Banga Bill, cover art by Skarr Akbar, and is dedicated to Mr. Wilson.

K-Mack - "What They Hate" (mp3)
There are so many good tracks on here I thought about posting, "B City" and "Never Change" and "Big Dawg" especially, but this one really knocks the most, in my opinion, great song.

Labels: ALLBMOREHIPHOP.COM, Annexx Click, Baltimore City Paper, Banga Bill, mixtape/album review, mp3, Mr. Wilson, Skarr Akbar

The Boy Blesst - Charmicidle (Reign Music Inc.)

The Boy Blesst is really one rapper that I've always felt like doesn't get the props he should in Baltimore, just a really solid MC with his own twist on things and always makes good music. But his new album, which I reviewed in the City Paper this week, really exceeded my expectations. Sick verses, memorable hooks, good variety of beats (by Banga Bill, Street Heat, Imahj, J Stax, B.Lansky, among others), not much filler or bullshit, I really hope people don't sleep on him this time. You can buy the album here.

The Boy Blesst - "U Lucky" (mp3)
It was tough to pick a favorite song here, the whole stretch from tracks 4-8 is golden, but right now this is the one I'm feeling the most.

Labels: Baltimore City Paper, Banga Bill, magazines/newspapers, mixtape/album review, mp3, The Boy Blesst

Labels: 5 Seasons, B.O.M.B., Backland, Banga Bill, Bossman, Comp, DJ Booman, flyer, Huli Shallone, Jade Fox, Kartel, Los, Mullyman, NOE, Ogun, Skarr Akbar, Team Fifty, Tha Profitt, Tim Trees

B-Ill - The Best Of B-Ill: Chapter 1 (Banga Bill Enterprises)

Banga Bill is a producer who's down with Star Status and Street Official Records and a lot of other labels, and if you listen to Baltimore hip hop at all you've heard some of his work over the years. I reviewed this mixtape for the City Paper recently, and it's a double CD that features his work with a ton of great Baltimore artists (Mullyman, Barnes, JI-900, Tha Annexx Click, Backland, Los, Blesst, Sonny Brown) as well as some pretty major out-of town MC's (Freeway, Joe Budden, Snoop Dogg, The Clipse, Jae Hood, Drag-On, Ghostface Killah, Memphis Bleek). Don't be confused by the cover art, though, none of the Baltimore rap featured on The Wire is on these CD's. But check out Bill's MySpace page where you can buy a lot of these tracks via Snocap.com. Since it's a double CD, I'll post a track from each CD:

Silohette - "Chicken Box" (mp3)
The chicken box is such a Baltimore thing, when I heard this for the first time a year ago I thought it was so brilliant that someone here made a song out of the concept. This track should've been a huge hit, in my opinion. Is her name spelled Silohette or Silowette, though? I've seen it both ways.

Los - "Ain't Shook At All" (mp3)
This is a pretty short track but it's hot, and it's always good to hear something from Los, he needs to put out a solo mixtape or something already.

Labels: Annexx Click, Backland, Baltimore City Paper, Banga Bill, Barnes, Los, mixtape/album review, mp3, Mullyman, Sonny Brown, The Boy Blesst

Major League Unlimited - Industry Invasion: The Street Album (Major League Unlimited)

One of my recent City Paper reviews was for the new compilation from Mullyman's label. MLU's got a good roster right now, even without Sonny Brown, now they've got Nik Stylz and Lady D and Hollywood Black and Verb from Dirty Hartz. The really crazy thing about this album, though, might be the production lineup, which includes Debonair Samir, B-Ill, Darkroom Productions and Jay Funk, among others. This album is out now in Record & Tape Traders (I found my copy in the Towson store, in the local music section under M).

I saw some MySpace bulletins from Mully recently that said he's shooting a video for "I'm Good There" on I think September 1st and 8th, no idea where, but I guess that might be a serious event. That song's on the CD, I've posted it (and the Baltimore club remix) here before, and it's apparently going to be in season 5 of The Wire, just like a bunch of his songs were in season 4. Mully's also been saying lately that he's banned from the radio on 92Q, I don't know if he literally means they blacklisted him or if he's just salty about them not playing any of his recent singles, but his career seems to be doing pretty well without their support, and I think he's getting spins down in D.C. on 95.5 WPGC anyway.

Comp, Verb and Mullyman - "I'm The Shit" (mp3)
I first heard this song on Comp's last mixtape and it's a real nice posse cut, with a beat produced by Comp himself. I'm real excited about Verb being an artist on Major League now, that's a good team for him and I've been hoping he would do a solo project. I wonder if that means Dirty Hartz is still going as a group or not, though.

Labels: Baltimore City Paper, Banga Bill, Comp, Darkroom Productions, Debonair Samir, Dirty Hartz, mixtape/album review, mp3, Mullyman, The Wire

It's been a minute (well, almost 9 months) since I did a Know Your Product local release round-up for the City Paper and put some hip hop and Baltimore club in the column, so in this week's issue I've got recent reviews of mixtapes by B-Ill a.k.a. Banga Bill, A-maz-on, Mullyman/Major League Unlimited, and Blaq Starr. As usual, mp3's from all those discs will follow on Gov't Names in the next couple weeks.

Labels: Baltimore City Paper, Baltimore club, Banga Bill, Blaq Starr, magazines/newspapers, Mullyman

Hip Hop 101/Old School Mondays
"Best Weekly Event" - Baltimore City Paper
July 2nd, 2007 - Five Seasons
830 Guilford Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21201 - ladies $5, guys $10

YUP WE GOT THE PRODUCERS GOING AT IT.. HIPHOP 101!!

STAR STATUS PRESENTS!!!

THE 1ST ANNUAL GREAT AMERICAN BEATMAN BATTLE

MONDAY JULY 2ND, 2007 9PM-2AM

HOSTED BY THE TRIPLE THREAT
SQUIRREL WYDE
SHAKA PITTS
SONNY BROWN

MUSIC BY DJ JABRIL

LIVE PERFORMANCES BY
1ST FAMILY
J.O.
VISION

THE ROUND:
J FUNK VS COMP
BERNIE DOZIER VS GEE DA GREAT
BANGA BILL VS STEVEN SPEILBERG
KANG KONG VS SHAWN BANKS

THE 2ND ROUND ( NOT TO SURE IF THIS IS OFFICIAL BUT THIS IS WHAT CAME IN LAST NIGHT TO ME)

SKARR AKBARR VS DAVE THE BARBER
JOHN THE BAPTIST VS AKIRA THE GREAT
REINA VS MSTRISS BEATS
B-BANKS VS PHATHEAD

$500 CASH AND PRIZES AND THE SOLE WINNER WILL BE ABLE TO SUBMIT TRACKS TO DIPSETS OWN HELL RELL

ONCE AGAIN IT'S GOING DOWN JULY 2, 2007 830 NORTH GUILFORD AVE BALTIMORE MD

21 WITH PROPER ID
FELLAS $10
LADIES $5

HIPHOP 101

DRINK SPECIALS, FOOD, AND GREAT MUSIC

COME ON OUT AND SEE WHO WILL BE CROWNED BALTIMORES BEST!

-Sonny Brown

Labels: 5 Seasons, Banga Bill, Comp, flyer, Hip Hop 101, Skarr Akbar, Sonny Brown

First of all, let me say that this is not The Government Names 2006 Baltimore Hip Hop Poll Results, which I posted the other day, and also that I kind of apologize for my attitude in that post. I knew going into it how it might turn out, and I still got a little bitter about it, and inadvertantly disrespected some of my favorite artists. But it seems like people understand now that I wasn't trying to diss anybody, and it's water under the bridge. Now, onto my official year-end wrap up, which is completely my opinion and noone else's. I won't say much about what my opinion means, because I'm just one person and I have my own biases, but the fact that I've heard this much local music, and that I know too many of the artists to feel any obligation to any one of them beyond saying how I really feel about their music, should speak for itself. But still, take it with a big grain of salt and understand I'm rooting for everybody. Enjoy the feast of mp3's, discover some artists you might like, click the links and get to know them. I'll be posting less often for the next 3 weeks or so, so you'll have plenty of time to digest this.


1. Little Clayway - Still Movin' Independently: The Takeover (Clayway Records)
Government Names review
Clayway Records website
Little Clayway on MySpace
Little Clayway - "Clay Family Story" (mp3)

This is kind of an offbeat choice for #1, I don't think a lot of people heard this one, but in my opinion it was just the best, most complete album I heard out of the scene this year. Clayway doesn't rap real fancy but he has a laid back, conversational flow you can relate to, and by combining new material with some older career highlights, he put together a good, balanced album. But what I really loved about it was the personal storytelling perspective of songs like "B-More Hip Hop" and "Clay Family Story," squeezing years of history into brief songs and letting you inside his head.


2. Dirty Hartz - It Is What It Is Vol. 2 (Dirty Hartz Ent.)
Government Names review
Dirty Hartz on MySpace
Dirty Hartz - "The Hartz Is Here" (mp3)

Verb and everyone else in DH can just rhyme their asses off, and with a really hot selection of industry beats and original tracks by Debonair Samir, they did the mixtape thing more consistently than just about anybody this year.


3. Tyree Colion - Tyree Colion presents Hustle Hard Blvd (Rare Ent./Hustle Hard Blvd)
Government Names review
Rare Ent. on MySpace
Tyree Colion - "Help Me" (mp3)

I was pleasantly surprised by how highly this placed in the poll, considering that Tyree got locked up before it was officially released and as a result it was never really promoted or heard by many people. But I think everyone that heard it has to respect the accomplishment of a triple CD where every disc is as consistent as most other dudes' whole mixtapes.


4. UnReal - Dat Boyz A Problem (UnReality Ent.)
Government Names review
UnReal on MySpace
UnReal - "Breath" (mp3)

UnReal has been a favorite of mine going back to his track from Hamsterdam, and he really pulled together almost all of his best joints for this one.

5. Mullyman - Still H.I.M . (Major League Unlimited/DJ Gemini)
Government Names review
Mullyman on MySpace
Mullyman - "Old School Tribute" (mp3)

Mullymania never totally lived up to my expectations, but he really came hard on the follow-up mixtape and let people know he wasn't going anywhere.


6. DK - King Me (730 Commission/DJ Kay Slay)
Government Names review
DK on MySpace
DK - "You Ain't Fooling Me" (mp3)

I don't think people in the city really realize yet who DK is, let alone how talented he is and that he's signed to a mid-sized national indie label. Maybe when he drops the album they'll start noticing.


7. Tha Annexx Click - Banga Bill Presents Chapter 16: Tha Return Of Da
Blue (Knokville Ent./Street Official Ent.)
Government Names review
Banga
Bill on MySpace
Tha Annexx Click - "Funky Fresh" (mp3)

Tha Annexx Click is one of those crews whose history goes back way further than my knowledge of the scene, back in the 90's, so I don't know how this measures up to the old stuff, but it made me a fan.


8. Skarr Akbar - The Cerebellum: General Part Four (Akbar Enterprize/DJ Radio)
Government Names review
Skarr Akbar on MySpace
Skarr Akbar - "Picture Me Rolling" (mp3)

Skarr released so much music this year that it's hard to say what his best release was -- he just put out a DVD/CD at all Downtown Locker Rooms this week that I haven't heard yet -- but this one is my favorite of the ones I've heard.


9. Barnes - The Last Shall Be First (Street Official/Sugar Water)
Government Names review
Barnes on MySpace
Barnes f/ Goddi - "Real Nigga" (mp3)

Barnes did it big with radio hits and national distribution this year, but I think the fact that he got locked up right for a while right after his album dropped kinda hurt his momentum. He really put out a quality album, though.


10. Bossman - BulletProof B (One Up Ent.)
Government Names review
Bossman on MySpace
Bossman - "You're Wrong (live)" (mp3)

Bossman hadn't really released too much new music since getting signed last year, but then recently he unleashed a whole 2 CD mixtape to make up for it, and I hope it really gets people ready for the Virgin album in the next few months.


11. PX (Parts Unknown) - Hood Therapy (Street Legal Entertainment/BRM Music/MDL Music)
Government Names review
PX (Parts Unknown) on MySpace
PX (Parts Unknown) - "Hood Therapy" (mp3)

I still feel really bad about disrespecting PX the other day, because they've been in this scene a long time and really didn't fuck around with this album, got good distribution and made sure people came out in droves to cop it, and not a lot of people around here have really accomplished that. And they've got a real unique sound that's all them, too.


12. B. Rich - Born Rich (Sure Shot Recordings)
Government Names review
B. Rich on MySpace
B. Rich - "Angels" (mp3)

For a lot of people around here, B. Rich's story is a cautional tale about how not to get treated by the industry. But it's really to his credit that he came back on an independent level all these years later and actually made an album that was better than his first.


13. Midas - Pay-Per-View (Team Green/Beat Game)
Government Names review
Midas on MySpace
Midas - "Movies" (mp3)

I think Midas is one of the most promising MCs in the city right now, and this feels like a really good appetizer for the album he's dropping in '07.


14. PenDragon - Revenge Of The Harm City King (Team Arson Music/DragonMoon Records)
Government Names review
PenDragon on MySpace
PenDragon - "Sweet Dreams" (mp3)

Probably the best pleasant surprise I heard this year, as far as getting sent a CD by an artist I hadn't previously heard of.


15. Ray Lugar - Exclusive Respect II (Stay Hi Ent./Team Fifty)
Government Names review
Team Fifty website
Ray Lugar - "I Know" (mp3)

I just did a big City Paper feature on Ray Lugar and the Low Key God that's coming real soon, so I won't say too much other than that these dudes are legends and you need to be familiar with them.


16. Labtekwon - The Ghetto Dai Lai Lama V. 777 (Ankh Ba Records/Morphius Urban)
Government Names review
Labtekwon on MySpace
Labtekwon - "The Gift" (mp3)

I don't know why Lab went back to a 2005 album and re-released it with some minor adjustments, but every change he made (compare the old version of "The Gift" to this one if you have both) made it better.


17. Comp - Independence Day: Bang-A-Rang Mixtape Vol. 3 (DNA)
Government Names reviewa>
Comp on MySpace
Comp - "B-More Anthem" (mp3)

Like B. Rich, Comp is someone else I respect for getting fucked over by the major label system but still coming back independent.


18. Backland - Back In Business (Charm City Records)
Government Names review
Backland on MySpace
Backland - "What Would You Do?" (mp3)

I think I would have liked this mixtape more if I hadn't gotten his previous one, The One, which is really great, right around the same time, but it's good to have Backland back on the scene.


19. Finacy - Napoleon Complex (Infinite Legacy)
Government Names review
Finacy on MySpace
Finacy - "Round 1" (mp3)

I only got around to really listening to this album a lot lately but it's been growing on me fast.


20. ShellBe RAW - Do You Like It Raw? (A.R.S. Entertainment/DJ Radio)
Government Names review
ShellBe RAW on MySpace
ShellBe RAW f/ Che Ray - "Do It For You Freestyle" (mp3)

ShellBe really earned her hype with this one, although I kinda wish there were more original beats, since the ones that are on here are good.

21. Cutthroat - Words Can't Explain It Chapter 2.5 (For The People Entertainment)
Government Names review
Cutthroat on MySpace
Cutthroat - "Painter" (mp3)

The production on this album is really beautiful and subtle, Cutthroat succeeded at making a really different album from most of the stuff on this list.


22. C Love - Respect, Vol. 1 (ItsBaltimoreBaby.com/DNA)
Government Names review
C Love on MySpace
Brown F.I.S.H. - "45" (mp3)

What up, C Love! It's harder for me to rate various artist mixtapes but there's some great tracks on here.


23. Mike Malachi - Malachi's Way
Government Names review
Mike Malachi on MySpace
Mike Malachi - "What Y'all Really Want To Do" (mp3)

This record sounded really promising but inconsistent to me, I hope Malachi lives up to his potential on the next project.


24. Gritty Gang - Street Certified Goods (Real On Purpose Entertainment)
Government Names review
Real On Purpose on MySpace
Ammo - "(Say) Gritty Gang" (mp3)

Nobody brings people together in Baltimore quite like Ogun and ROP, this was a real interesting project and I wonder if it's gonna keep going, good assemblage of people.

25. Real2Real - Playground Legends (Street Official Records/Headnod Entertainment)
Government Names review
Real2Real on MySpace
Real2Real - "Like It Or Not" (mp3)

I think I need to listen to this some more, it might be better than I realized.



26. The Yung Huslas - Strickly Business Volume One (Rare Ent.)
Government Names review
The Yung Huslas on MySpace
The Yung Huslas - "Pop!" (mp3)

Along with Ammo, these kids are making being a teen rapper from Baltimore more respectable than the stuff getting played on the radio, they gotta be good to get co-signed by Skarr Akbar and Tyree Colion.


27. Hots - The Introduction (One Up Ent./Lil Skrilla)
Government Names review
Hots on MySpace
Hots - "Criminal Individuals" (mp3)

This is another one that's kinda grown on me with time, might end up belonging higher on this list in retrospect, but I'm not sure yet. Anything with One Up beats is worth copping, though.


28. Billo "The Hood Rockstar" - Daily Grind Vol. 2 "We Got Another
One" (For The People Entertainment)
Government Names review
Billo on MySpace
Billo f/ Yuk and Cut - "I'm Ballin'" (mp3)

This one's a little inconsistent to me but when it's good it's pretty damn good.


29. M.O.L. - Money On Da Low (Top Of Da Hill Records)
Government Names review
M.O.L. on MySpace
M.O.L. - "You Don't Know" (mp3)

There's kinda too many MCs that I can't tell apart in this crew, I think if any of them dropped a solo joint I'd like it, though.

30. Ray Victory - Ready 2 Go! (Strong Arm Entertainment/Nite Life Entertainment/DJ Nelly Nell)
Government Names review
Ray Victory on MySpace
Ray Victory - "Same Shit" (mp3)

Another mixtape bogged down with too many freestyles, but the original material is on point.


31. Third Kind - Disaster Relief (Sweatbox Recordings)
Government Names review
Third Kind on MySpace
Third Kind - "The Movement" (mp3)

Some of the production on here is really crazy, crate digging shit.


32. Profound and Ogun - Oil And Water 2 (Real On Purpose Entertainment/DJ Radio)
Government Names review

Real On Purpose on MySpace
Profound - "Cash Crop" (mp3)

This mixtape kinda has me hyped for Profound to do a full-on solo joint.

33. Alevan - Came Here 4 (Alevan, Inc.)
Government Names review
Alevan on MySpace
Alevan - "Ride Wit' Me" (mp3)

Maybe a little too mellow but a real consistent mood and a pleasant surprise from a crew I wasn't familiar with before.


34. Bigg Patch - Goldenboy Volume 2 (Diamond Life Records/Unruly Records)
Government Names review
Bigg Patch website
Bigg Patch - "Move" (mp3)

A few great tracks but some real repetitive lyrics and weak hooks.


35. Golden Seal - The Official Brown Sugar Mixtape (DJ Booman)
Government Names review
Golden Seal on MySpace
Jahli of Golden Seal f/ Ogun - "Cicadas" (mp3)

I was a little disappointed there wasn't more Golden Seal on here, way too much of a mix without much focus.


36. Under Sound Music presents Breaking Ground, Vol. 1 (Under Sound Music/DJ Impulse)
Government Names review
Under Sound Music website
Tislam The Great - "That Feelin'" (mp3)

This is one I kinda panned in the paper but some of the tracks have really grown on me.


37. B.O.M.B. - King Of Da Streets Vol. 1 (Jimmy Beamz)
Government Names review
B.O.M.B. on MySpace
B.O.M.B. - "The Best Of You" (mp3)

B.O.M.B.'s loose, spoken-word-type flow is an acquired taste, but I think I'm starting to acquire it.

38. Jon Boe - Before The Storm
Government Names review
Jon Boe - "Sunshine" (mp3)

This might be the nastiest, messiest, most aggressive mixtape I heard all year, but sometimes that's the kinda thing you really wanna hear.

39. Architects Recording Studio presents Street Radio Volume 2.5 (A.R.S. Entertainment/DJ Radio)
Government Names review
Ogun f/ Che Rae - "My Life" (mp3)

This one was chock full of joints, even though it's like a 'half' edition, I think this might be my favorite in the series so far.


40. The Black Family - The City is Ours
Government Names review
The Black Family on MySpace
J-Nina and Ill Will - "For Baltimore" (mp3)

Another crew where I think having a lot of unfamiliar MCs made it hard for me to tell them apart or get to know their voices, but I think some of them, especially J-Nina, I'd check for.

41. Labtekwon - DJ Jazzy Jerk presents Ghettoclectic Volume WON (King of the Slow
Burn) (Ankh Ba Records)
Government Names review
Labtekwon on MySpace
Labtekwon - "One In A Million" (mp3)

Lab does everything different from the norm, so even his freestyle mixtape is gonna go a bit off the beaten path, but the whole theme of R&B slow jams works really well.

42. Bosslady presents Baltimore State Of Grind: 21 Different Ways Pt. 1 (House of Platinum Records)
Government Names review
Bosslady on MySpace
Amadaye - "Late At Night" (mp3)

A solid compilation based on a novel theme.

43. Imperial Records presents... Operation: Shutdown (Imperial Records/DJ Spontaneous)
Government Names review
Young Dip on MySpace
Bless - "Who Is He?" (mp3)

Not bad, but I'm looking forward to hearing the new Young Dip mixtape, to get a feel for his solo material.


44. Comp - Bangarang City (DJ B-Roc/DJ DMA)
Government Names review
Comp on MySpace
Comp - "Yea" (mp3)

The Comp tracks are good but there's really not enough Comp on here.

45. E Major - The Major General Mixtape (Under Sound Music/DJ Impulse)
Government Names review
Under Sound Music website
E Major - "Bless One" (mp3)

Eyekon really showed versatility with the beat selection on here.


46. Skarr Akbar - The Bidding War Stars Now! (Akbar Enterprize/DJ Radio)
Government Names review
Skarr Akbar on MySpace
Skarr Akbar - "What I Want" (mp3)

It seems like this mixtape was a little more popular than The Cerebellum, but too much of this material is old to me for me to like it as much. It does have some of his best joints, though.

47. Huli Shallone - Huli Shallone (Hit 'Em Hard Records)
Government Names review
Huli Shallone - "For My Shorty" (mp3)

Huli just didn't come as hard on this as his first album, it felt like a few singles with a lot of filler. And then the best single he dropped this year, "Work It Good," wasn't even on it.


48. Team Green - The Hostage Vol 1 (Team Green/Beat Game/DNA)
Government Names review
Team Green on MySpace
Midas - "Team Green Commandments" (mp3)

The first mixtape I heard with Midas on it, after already being a fan of his from Style Warz, but a little too much of other dudes and not enough of him.

49. D.O.G. - Walk On Air: The Mix Tape (Invisible Set Entertainment)
Government Names review
D.O.G. on MySpace
D.O.G. - "Icy Yo D.O.G." (mp3)

Champagne Dreams probably would've been near the top of this list if it had dropped this year, but since D.O.G. got signed to Universal and pushed the album back once again, all we got this year was a mixtape that was way too short.


50. Yung Gist - The Baltimore Son
Government Names review
Yung Gist - "Holla @ Me" (mp3)

This had its moments but definitely did not live up to the "best rapper baltimore has ever seen" hype. He could stand to mumble a little less, it makes it hard to hear what he's saying.

Labels: Annexx Click, Banga Bill, Barnes, Bosslady, Bossman, Debonair Samir, Dirty Hartz, DK, lists, Little Clayway, mp3, Mullyman, Skarr Akbar, Street Official, Tyree Colion, UnReal

Tha Annexx Click - Banga Bill Presents Chapter 16: Tha Return Of Da Blue (Knokville Ent./Street Official Ent.)

I guess this is the return of Tha Annexx Click, although I've never heard any of their old stuff so it's all new to me. But I bought on the strength of B-Ill's name, since he's done beats for Mullyman, Barnes, UnReal, Backland, a lot of people, so you've probably heard him shout "Banga Bill!" at the beginning of a few tracks on 92Q yourself. And one of the reasons this mixtape is so consistent and one of my favorite Baltimore CD's of this year is that it's all original beats by Bill, no freestyles. The Click is two people, a male MC named Mack, who sounds a hell of a lot like Jadakiss, and a female MC named Silohette. They kind of take turns doing solo tracks, and do a handful of tracks together. C Love posted about this mixtape a few months ago (I guess that's her thumb in the picture of the cover, haha) and included Silo's "Cleva Girl" on her Respect, Vol. 1 mixtape.

Mack - "Ain't No Sunshine" (mp3)
I would've thought that this Bill Withers sample would've sounded played out, but B-Ill makes it sound fresh on this.

Silohette - "Can't Quit Her" (mp3)
A banger that comes on right after "Ain't No Sunshine," my favorite stretch on the CD.

Labels: Annexx Click, Banga Bill, mixtape/album review, mp3, Street Official