MIXTAPE REVIEW: OCD: Moosh & Twist – Back To The Basement

The Hip-Hop duo known as OCD from Philly, is now a good amount of mixtapes into their music career. Their newest effort, ‘Back To The Basement‘ is one of their best offerings yet. This 15-track tape spans a wide variety of sounds and the duo has proved that they are equipped to sing the hooks, rap the verses, make party songs and then calm things down and actually speak on some emotional subject matter. TyTyAmerica, DK, 6ix, and Teddy Roxpin all have a hand in the production of songs on this great tape. The beats on here are so diverse, from pianos and synths to hard-strummed guitars in songs like, ‘This High’ which is one of my favorites off the whole tape. Lyrically much of the tape holds strong against other up-and-coming rappers which is why it is unfortunate that some of the tracks on the tape fall short, in my opinion. One of the songs, ‘Hipster Party’ specifically, I felt had started off with a very intriguing beat but progressed and never maximized its potential. To me that song fell under the influence of the ‘2-Chainz syndrome’ (A hard beat but not much else going on…) Overall, my favorite tracks were, ‘This High’, ‘Lights On’, Top Of The World’, ‘P.A.B.S.’ and ‘Break It Down’. These 5 tracks alone I felt encompass the vibe of most of the mixtape. One of the most solid releases so far this year, check it out!

FINAL RATING: 8/10

DOWNLOAD ‘BACK TO THE BASEMENT’ AT: http://www.datpiff.com/OCD-Moosh-Twist-Back-To-The-Basement-mixtape.454057.html

Peace and Love,

Evan Vogel

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MIXTAPE REVIEW: Old Boy Jon – DFD

Produced by Duke Westlake, the creator of countless cypher beats, Dumbfoundead‘s nex mixtape ‘Old Boy Jon‘ was destined from the start to have some funky and complex beats on it. This 16-track effort is classic DFD, lyricism and a variety of flows and sounds. It starts off with an Intro that is the happy birthday song being sung. Simple and sets up tape easily enough. From there, we jump right into one of my favorite songs, ‘Clear‘. The synth sounds and constant high-hats that the beat is comprised of, together, give a transcending vibe to the song. It is a relaxed song but is hard at the same time with its powerful and continuous bass. The chorus is sung like you’d imagine in a dream, very soft vocals that put you at peace. The next song, ‘Shotgun‘ another favorite of mine has a consistent rhythm as DFD jumps right into his verse, an interesting rhyme scheme can be heard too. Now, I will move on to the song that would’ve been this tape’s single if it were released in that style. That song is, ‘24KTWN‘. It is essentially DFD talking about how his life has progressed and unfolded, to this point, it includes some of the good as well the bad, and it’s really just about the place he grew up in. The tape doesn’t have much continuity. In other words, it doesn’t seem like it is telling a specific story. Which, in a sense, is a bit unfortunate because from the first few songs it would seem as though he is going to try a convey a specific message to the listeners, but that message never reveals itself. All in all, The production and lyrics of this tape are so well done(…and should be, at this point in DFD’s career) that the minor complaints of no specific tone or message being continued throughout the tape, quickly become minuscule problems. Get this tape now!

RATING: 8.5/10

Mixtape Download Link:

http://www.thatmixtape.com/component/muscol/D/388-dumbfoundead/1693-old-boy-jon

Follow DFD on Twitter: @dumbfoundead

Peace and Love,

Evan Vogel

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