Note: Mixtape Reviews are just Album reviews…of mixtapes. Meh.

A$AP Mob is a Rap collective from Harlem New York. Their most famous member (In fact, their only “Famous” member) is A$AP Rocky, who released a very solid mixtape, LiveLoveA$AP, last November. The reason that tape worked so well was because of A$AP having a certain charisma to his flow (Which helped, since his flow was kind of lazier),  and some absolutely amazing production from producers like Clams Casino. His debut album comes out October 31st (Yeah, that’s Halloween…)

Sorry to the fans for this comparison, but Rocky to the A$AP Mob is kind of like Tyler, the Creator to Odd Future. Their sounds are completely different, but the whole “East Coast, West Coast” Rap Collective thing is there. This new tape is kind of meant to show off what this crew has to offer. However, it really doesn’t do that too well. The first problem with this tape is that when it tries to put every member on one track, it doesn’t work well.  Full Metal Jacket has most, if not all the members of A$AP on it, but it’s only 2:30 minutes long. So that gives every member about 20 seconds to show off. What should have been done was something like Odd Future’s Oldie, or even Joey Bada$$’s Suspect off his 1999 mixtape. These tracks were long and, in the later’s case, kind of boring, but at least it showed what every member of the team had to offer.

The rest of the tape is just an assortment of A$AP members on tracks with each other. There’s not as much Rocky as one would suspect to be on this tape, which is kind of bad. Many members of A$AP have lazier, slower flows, but none of them are as captivating as Rocky’s. Thus, they just kind of come across as a bit…boring. Some of the flows are a bit more interesting (A$AP Ferg has totally sold me with this tape, and I’d totally download a solo mixtape from him). However, none of the others stick out, really. Harder tracks fall kidn of short, like Coke and White B****es: Chaper 2, where A$AP Ant drops a boring verse that falls flat of the guests, including a as-always-solid Danny Brown and the pretty good Gunplay (Who’s Fat Trel?).

The biggest problem I have with this tape, however, is that the production that was on LiveLoveA$AP just isn’t there. Some beats are weird late 90s underground (Coke and White B****es), while others are on some Waka Flocka Southern Boom style beat (Work), away from that very well done Cloud Rap style from Rocky’s first tape. Not that it makes any of the songs better, but one thing that made LiveLoveA$AP great was its consistent production, and here it’s just all over the place.

Either way, outside of some guests, like on Bath Salt where Flatbush Zombies do a much better job than they did on that “Meh” mixtape earlier this year, the only rappers in the A$AP crew that really stick out are Rocky and Ferg. Even if some of them are OK rappers (Most of them are), none of them have really distinct personalities, or verses. Back to the Odd Future thing, even their worst rappers (Jasper and Taco) are somewhat interesting to listen to. They might be terrible, but they have enough charisma and personality to really make you listen. Odd Future also has at least some kind of defined roles in the crew (Tyler’s the leader, Earls’ kind of right behind, Jasper and Taco are the clowns, Domo is the stoner, etc.). Even if the rappers in A$AP are technically more talented, they’re just too uninteresting, and this tape shows that all too much. If there was more A$AP Rocky, maybe these tracks would have worked better.

There’s nothing musically wrong with this tape, but it’s just for the most part…boring. Not a great first impression for an entire rap collective.

Summary: Lord$ Never Worry falls to the same old problems every Rap Collective tape has, being a bit too boring and not introducing members of the crew well enough. Also, not enough A$AP Rocky.

Choice Cuts- Bath Salt, Purple Kisses, Choppas On Deck

2.5/5

Bath Salt is streaming below. Lord$ Never Worry is available for download now.