Hip Hop State of Mind

He's probably looking at someone he slapped off picture. GANGSTA.

“You see me! Hi Hater!”

There was a time where this was an anthem of sorts, and the name behind it was Lil Kim’s homie Maino. That’s basically all I knew of him at the time. As the single faded and I grew more relaxed (because I hated the single), I started hearing bits and pieces about things Maino was doing outside of rap.

“Yo, he slapped some dude at his performance.”

“He’s dissin’ Lil Cease.”

“I heard he’s sexin’ Lil’ Kim.”

“Homie’s a gangsta, for real.”

Even through all of this, I still had no desire to listen to his music. He didn’t move me the way other music did. Then the single “All Of The Above” came out, and it was nice, but it didn’t play on the radio as much as I hoped down here in Alabama.

And then I get a message from RhymeStyle telling me he bought the CD and I should listen to it. At the time, I had no idea that he hadn’t heard it yet either, but I still didn’t have any desire to listen to it. I was more interested in Ace Hood’s new CD “Ruthless” than Maino’s debut album.

So FINALLY I get around to it and its average for the first track. Generic “I feel good song” to start it off with Swizz Beatz yelling like he doesn’t have any common sense. Just when I think the CD’s going to be an average “hood-rapper” album, suddenly the songs slurs to a stop and Maino begins to narrate…

“Hold up…This is the end of the story… Sounds good right? But let me take you back to the beginning. Let me take you back to where it all started. I never wanted to be a product of my environment. I always wanted my environment to be a product of me. So here I am, at the end of a long 10-year bid for a drug-related kidnapping….”

And suddenly I stop playing ProtoType (because I game when I listen to new music usually) and I pay attention. The rest of the CD shocked me…

The Good: There’s really nothing negative I can say about the CD to be completely honest. The concepts are original, from the way the CD is presented with “Scenes” instead of interludes, and the scenes work well for making the CD flow together almost perfectly. If it’s not a scene, it’s a 10 or 15 second audio snapshot at the end of a track which makes the transition almost unnoticeable. A lot of thought went into the presentation of this CD, which is something usually that street CD’s of the same caliber (think Rocko and Boyz N Da Hood) usually lack.

Maino admits he isn’t a rapper, but he’s a quick learner. Although he’s more of a “conversationalist” than a rapper (a term I use to describe rappers like Young Jeezy and Gucci Mane…did I just use both of them in the same sentence? Hope I don’t get shot), on certain songs his wordplay is actually pretty good. The original take on the songs are nice as well. “Back To Life” details the first three main conversations Maino had when he got out of jail: his homie, his “chick”, and his parole officer. He even talks about his dream to rap and how he can fool people with his flow.

Congratulations homie. You’ve succeeded. Be careful though…if you keep playing with it, you might actually get better. And you’re not a BAD rapper right now.

There’s another song which Maino flips onto the “I’m not a punk but down push me” / “Eminem” type vibe on “Kill You.” I say Eminem because he’s talking to his baby mama (lol).

And then there’s the impressive take on “Runaway Slave”, which sounds familiar to Joe Budden’s “Pray For Me”.

Maino’s music comes from his heart, and you can tell that he’s not trying to be anything he’s not. He’s comfortable being a street dude that wants to make a legit living, and it comes out in his music. To put it in hip-hop terms: he’s hungry. As long as Lil’ Kim doesn’t try to piggyback off of his hustle, he should be good.

And the production is ON POINT.

The Bad: There are a few missteps with the CD. As with all hood albums, there’s the traditional “sex song” (this time titled “Let’s Make A Movie”) which I didn’t really care for. The Trey Songz-assisted “Hood Love” doesn’t fit the CD, not to mention Trey Songz actually HURTS this song instead of helps. I thought cameos are supposed to add to a song, not take away….

The end song isn’t that good to me as well. It’s my personal opinion, but it’s not exactly the grand close I wanted to the CD. I almost wish that “Million Bucks” and “Celebrate” had switched places just to make sure the CD closed on a high note. I mean, it was an appropriate close, and the CD came full circle, but I just personally didn’t like the outro song.

The Anthems: “All Of The Above,” “Here Comes Trouble” (produced by my personal favorites of the now, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League), “Hi Hater”, and “Remember My Name” all have anthem-type feels to them. Not a bad thing at all, but it’s something that’s noticed. Some people can’t get ONE anthem to bubble, and this dude has FOUR. All different feels to them, but all anthems nonetheless. And I don’t care what you say, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League beats are FIRE.

Bottom Line: For what it is, the LP is really solid. Don’t expect anything revolutionary, but don’t expect mindless rap babble either. If I had to label it, I’d say its Gangsta rap laced with some thoughtful hip-hop influences.

It works well. It actually made me appreciate “Hi Hater”…  Who would’ve thought that???

Final Rating: —– > 4/5 < —–

AFTERTHOUGHTS: