I wrote about Mario's new single with Nicki Minaj on the City Paper's Noise blog.

Labels: Baltimore City Paper, magazines/newspapers, Mario, Noise

Los - Zero Gravity: Intent To Deliver (DJ Head Debiase/The Aphilliates/After Platinum)

I've been bad about keeping up with all the mixtapes Los has released in the last couple years, but I think this is the most recent one and that another, Shooter, is dropping soon, unless it's out already and I just haven't seen it yet. But I gotta say, it feels like dude has really been building some momentum lately and it's exciting to see, he's always had obvious talent but I was never sure he had the grind to get his career going until this run he's on. A lot of industry beats on this mixtape, but he makes it work with some good lyrics, and this has that single "Sexy While You Chillin'" featuring Mario if you're after that. One thing that I noticed about this mixtape is that it's like 70 minutes long, and nobody really makes long mixtapes like that anymore and try to max out the CD length, since a lot of people just cop them online now anyway. In a way I like shorter mixtapes and like the trend towards shorter running times, but I feel like the length of this is kind of a good example of how Los just always has a ton of music to give away, speaks to his work ethic and that he can just rap for days and always sound inspired. Download Zero Gravity at Allbmorehiphop.com.

Los - "Never Landing" (mp3)
It's funny, I was just saying something recently about how I hate the airplane-themed inspirational songs that B.o.B. and Wiz Khalifa have out this year, but this song is kinda on the same vibe and I totally love it, definitely one of the best original beats on this mixtape and a good way to kick off the CD.

Labels: ALLBMOREHIPHOP.COM, Los, Mario, mixtape/album review, mp3

Mario - D.N.A. (J Records)

Mario's last album Go! from a couple years back was a really good record, but it didn't really spin off any big singles like his first two albums, so I was wondering where his career was headed and whether Baltimore still had a R&B star really representing in the mainstream. As I mentioned in a Splice Today piece I wrote recently about musicians in reality shows, I thought dude going on "Dancing With The Stars" was maybe signaling the end of his music career. But then he came back big over the summer with "Break Up," which really I think was annoying as fuck, one of the worst hits of the year, but good for him that it got him back on the charts, and the follow-up single "Thinkin' About You" is really good. This definitely isn't his best album, but it's got some good tracks on it and really I think he's easily one of the best R&B singers in his age bracket out there, still.

Mario - "I Miss My Friend" (mp3)
This is one of my favorite tracks and damn, it was written by Babyface, that's big.

Labels: Mario, mixtape/album review, mp3, Splice Today