I tend to not like mixtapes of Notorious B.I.G. Not that I don't enjoy hearing him, but more of the fact that it seems that every tape is the same. There's been a few that stand alone as clearly superior, but for the most part they're just average at best. And that's because they seem to recycle the same material. Same verses, same tracks. After awhile I just don't even bother copping a new Biggie tape. There's no point because 9 times out of 10, I'm they are just going to re-use the same old lyrics and pair him up with the usual suspects of guest spots.
There's none of that with a DJ Mike Nice tape. The thing about Mike is that he is unable to make an "average" Biggie Tape. And that's because he has such a wealth of rare and unreleased material, that his tape is already going to be elevated above virtually every other tape of that artist before he even starts.
That's because while just about every other DJ out there has a ceiling that limits what they have to work with, Mike's got none of that. In fact, I think it'd be fair to say that other DJ's ceiling is DJ Mike Nice's floor.
So when I heard that there was a new DJ Mike Nice tape coming out called "Brooklyn Bullshit" I was ready to commit without seeing a tracklist or a cover.
It's like it was in the old days of mixtapes. You know the DJ's name and you know it's gonna be good based on name recognition. Last year Mike Nice blessed hip hop lovers with a one-two punch of "Nas: Please Listen To My Demo" and "Common: For All Seasons", both jam packed with demos, freestyles and unreleased material. So there was no doubt in my mind that Brooklyn Bullshit would be on that level or beyond.
This tape is recommended to everyone who hears that a new Biggie Tape is coming out and their first thought is "who cares, I've heard everything by now".
Because you most definitely have not.
And this tape isn't exclusive to just Biggie. Throw in Jay z and Big Daddy Kane and this project has just launched into the stratosphere past perhaps even Rap Phenomenon, if only for the highly rare jewels, demos, freestyles and unreleased material that make this a must listen.
I don't even know where to begin with this project. The Biggie freestyling at the age of 12??? Jay Z rappin' at the age of 17? A Teenage Biggie's "I Love You?" How bout Big Daddy Kane tearing it up freestyling with Jay Z in 1991? There's so many truly rare and special pieces of hip hop history encased in this single tape that it would be impossible to truly give the deserved attention to them all.
Standout tracks for me have to include Big's Don't Love No Ho (Demo), Blind Alley Freestyle (Demo), Jay's What's In a Name (Demo), Rippin' It Up (demo) with Sauce Money and BDK's Birthday Party Freestyle (with Jay), and Sing My Song (Unreleased).
This Tape is a MUST for any real fans of hip hop, especially fans of BK Hip Hop. Mike Nice put a lot of time and hard work into a tape that begs multiple listens just to soak up the history. The track listing is on point with 99.99% of it being things I had never heard before, and DJ Crazy Chris hooking up the brilliant artwork.
To paraphrase Kanye West, ""Any reviewer who doesn't give Brooklyn Bullshit a perfect score is lowering the integrity of their site."
3 comments:
their first thought is "who cares, I've heard everything by now".
lol. That was me. but I just checked it against my library and unless he just changed the name of tracks there's a bunch of new shit on here.
props.
Na he definitely got some rare gems on this project right here.
Definitely a Collectors Edition !
Mike Nice does not change the name of any tracks. In fact I'm pretty sure he's against all the whack mixtapes that do just that.
Great writeup. When I heard about the new tape I was more than down just because Mike was puttin' it out. Definite trust of the name/man long before a tracklisting drops.
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