MIXTAPE REVIEW: Mr. MFN eXquire- The Man In the High Castle
As 2011 has shown, 2010 was not the Last Huzzah for underground Hip-Hop. Far from it. Of the rappers on that track, Despot has slowly gotten closer to that album of his, Das Racist members have dropped some solid mixtapes (All of which were pretty successful), Danny Brown has steadily dropped some fantastic standalone tracks, and El-P has continued to revolutionize Hip-Hop.
And then there’s Mr. MFN Exquire (Or as he is technically to known, Mr. Muthaf**kin’ eXquire). After his Lost In Translation tape (And the follow up Christmas tape), Exquire signed to Universal records. He’s also made several appearances on other efforts over the past few months, including a highlight on El-P’s Oh Hail No. All of these features have slowly turned Exquire from just a solid rapper to a force to be reckoned with. To illustrate, let me explain. While some people liked Lost In Translation, it still had many problems. Exquire released a tape that was a bit too long and really only had one stand out track (The Last Huzzah!). It had a unique dirty New York sound, but not much else. Plus, there were some sketches that absolutely ruined the flow of the tape (Like that BJ sketch).But then, he dropped the remix of The Last Huzzah!, which had his best verse yet at the end. As he has progressed as a rapper, we now get here.
This tape, specifically, will be the last thing to drop before his Major Label EP debut, Power & Passion, on November 6th. The label didn’t want him to release this mixtape, but he did anyway. It’s a sign of the times, but not to a Death Grips degree. It’s also a bit hard to find (I had to go onto one of those filthy File Sharing websites to grab it). But he released it because he wanted us to hear it.
Exquire’s flow, which used to be rather uninteresting, has developed into something interesting. I do not mean this as an insult, but it has a twisted 50 Cent feel to it.The track Lost In Translation really shows this off. This tape also shows that he’s improved quite a bit in mixing up his flow. There are different speeds and styles throughout the tape which make things less monotonous than on his first tape. Instead of overly relying on his gross sex schtick (don’t get me wrong, it still pops up a lot here), he manages to show a lot more technical skill than he has on past efforts.
I think that this tape, while it is not as well put together as Lost in Translation, does a better job at showing off Exquire’s talents. For me, the production was the strongest element on Lost in Translation, not Exquire himself.On The Man in the High Castle, the tables have been turned. This time, the beats are toned down a bit to let Exquire take control. The production here isn’t bad (far from, actually), but it allows more emphasis to be put on the emcee.
The tape is not without it’s problems, though. The first thing that’s problematic is that the songs themselves aren’t all that memorable. The songs are all very short (2 to 4 minutes, tops), but the whole tape relies on memorable moments far more than memorable songs. For example, off the top of my head I can tell you that Exquire uses a sex metaphor using Yo Gabba Gabba. However, I would not be able to tell you what specific track he did that on. (Revisiting the tape, it’s). It makes the mixtape feel like a collection of ideas rather than a collection of songs.
Also, there are a lot of guests here. However, those guests aren’t El-P or Das Racist or Danny Brown. Instead, we get a ton of rappers we’ve never heard of. They’re probably his buddies or something, but none of them are anything to hype about. None of them are at Exquire’s levels, and they can’t even drop lines that are remotely clever or memorable. They’re seemingly there as filler, like unfunny Family Guy cutaways. I guess.
Overall, since this is just a minor (almost throwaway) tape, the fact its OK bodes very well. Hopefully it means he saved better stuff for the EP and (hopefully) album. It made me excited for what’s to come…especially with Universal Records looming over him now. How he’ll get away with his sex antics is something I look forward to seeing.
Summary: Exquire improves from his previous tape by amping up his flow and delivering a slightly better (If still messy and rather less memorable) mixtape.
Choice Cuts- Lost In Translation, Position of Passion, Unthinkable Mixtape, The Punch Clock Blues
3/5
I’m not going to link to anywhere since they keep getting taken down. But find the tape yourself. His Passion & Pleasure EP will be out November 6th on Universal.
LATE ALBUM REVIEW: El-P- Cancer 4 Cure
El-P is a well regarded Producer and Emcee from Brooklyn, and the founder of the Hip-Hop label, Definitive Jux. The guy has been in the music business since the mid 90s, and is famous for his work with Company Flow, along with his previous solo album, and the Hip-Hop masterpiece that is Cannibal Ox’s The Cold Vein. That sure is a good album. He also recently produced another album I love, Killer Mike’s R.A.P. Music.
Cancer 4 Cure was released just 1 week after R.A.P. Music, so it’s been quite the year for El-P. While it’s well known that El-P is a phenomenal producer, it sometimes seems that people forget just how good of a rapper he is, too. His flow is weird, intricate, and confusing (in a good way). He doesn’t drop guest verses too often, but when he does, it’s mind blowing and seemingly revolutionary (Case in point, his work on Mr. MFN eXquire’s Huzzah (Remix)).
Before I go into detail about this album, I’ll flat out say right away, while I really like this album, it’s no album of the year. While there’s a whole lot of “Right” in it, there’s also some noticeable “Wrong”. I’ll get the wrong out of the way right away so that we can get to the praising. I will say some of the tracks are not immediately great, and some of them just aren’t great. There aren’t any bad tracks on this album, but some of them are just noticeably weaker than the stronger parts of the album. Whether it’s the weird not rapping on Works Every Tim (I do really like Interpol’s Paul Banks on this song in the chorus), or somewhat mediocre hooks on the second half of the album (For My Upstairs Neighbor), this album does have noticeable flaws.
But a lot of these flaws can be pushed aside because of jut how hard this album is. The production is amazing, shown at its best on opening track Request Denied. A weird, dissonant sounding guitar feedback plays, with the sound growing ever so slowly. A vocal sample drops, ending its speech saying “Storm the Studio”, and then aggressive percussion kicks in, threatening synths explode, synths both wobbly and quiet. The guitar becomes alone again, and then El-P drops his first verse of the album, and he sure does go in on it.
The bangers on this album are the best part of it. The Full Retard (For the easily offended, this is a reference to the movie Tropic Thunder) has a sample of “PUMP THIS S***”, and El-P raps hard and mean over the weird, wobbly synth lines. Then there’s a weird bridge with a high-pitched voice speaking of peace and love, which is cut off by gun shots. Then the beat changes up (Something El-P’s been doing a lot of this year), and El-P drops an even HARDER verse that closes out the song.
After the weird Works Every Time, Drones Over Brooklyn drops, featuring a heavy, very dark beat, which I enjoyed quite a bit. Then two flat out amazing Hip-Hop group cuts drop. The first being Oh Hail No, which features Mr. MFN Exquire and Danny Brown. El-P’s first verse is aggressive and unforgiving. Then, Mr. MFN Exquire drops the verse of the year. His verse is absolutely mind blowing, the first time I heard it I had to go back and listen to it 5 more times. His flow is immaculate and hits with power I haven’t felt since El-P himself had a guest verse on Exquire’s Huzzah! remix. Exquire’s verse is so hot that Danny Brown’s verse, which is pretty great, kind of ends up as an afterthought. Then Tougher Colder Killer continues the pattern, with El-P dropping another hard, unforgiving verse (“To the mother of my enemy, I just killed your son/ He died with his face to the sky and it can not be undone”. Daaaang), and then Killer Mike and Despot drop great verses, and they sound great over the beat. Side note, Despot is easily the most underrated rapper on earth right now.
The rest of the album is a lot like the first half, except a little less interesting. The production remains immaculate and interesting (I love the Das Racist sample on True Story). El-P’s rapping, however, gets a little (Only a little) old after a while, but that’s probably just me. And it’s not like that matters, because the production is just so fantastic that El-P’s rapping is kind of an afterthought (And considering how good of an Emcee El-P is, that’s astounding).
Summary: El-P’s Cancer 4 Cure may be slightly inconsistent, but it’s full of phenomenal production, great guest verses (MR. MFN EXQUIRE), and hard hitting tracks with El-P’s rapping at its best.
Choice Cuts- Request Denied, The Full Retard, Oh Hail No, Tougher Colder Killer
4/5
Stream The Full Retard and Tougher Colder Killer below (WARNING: Because it’s Hip-Hop,expect some language). Cancer 4 Cure is out now on Fat Possum.
Vantage Point Music 