Hip Hop State of Mind

Dopeness. Nothing else needs to be said.

K1ng Eljay - I love following people with personality on Twitter. I’ve been excited about Joell Ortiz ever since he dropped “The Bodega Chronicles.” I couldn’t understand how come he didn’t have a deal then, then he got one and the more I researched, the more everything began to make sense, and he became a REAL person to me.

The same thing happened for Novel. He’s one of the few people that actually interact with their fans on Twitter. I said something on Twitter that he and Joell Ortiz together reminds me of the quality music that Timbaland and Magoo used to put out, and to my surprise he hits me back:

“Wait i cant retweet that… I aint Magoo LOLOL.”

Caught me completely off-guard, but it was funny. I started following the dude, and I began to like him more as a person. It makes it easier to like someone when their music meshes with their personality. Genuine people make genuine music. That being said.. if you’re in need of a hip-hop fix, I got something for you…

The Good:

In case it wasn’t implied by the post name, Joell Ortiz and Novel have teamed up for a new mixtape, titled “Defying the Predictable.” The two are familiar with working together, and have done so several times in the past. It makes sense for them to collaborate; I only wonder how come it hasn’t happened sooner.

The mixtape flows together amazing. The lyrics between them are all high quality, the features on the project add to the feel of it, and the original remixes they’ve composed are great, and in some cases, they breathe more life into the song.

“Stressful” is another “Successful” remix, but the quality of the song halfway makes me wish Trey Songz wasn’t on the original hook and that it was Drake, Novel, and Joell. The “Fighters” remix has the two taking one of my favorite Lupe Fiasco songs and giving it a hip-hop feel. “All The Right Moves” with One Republic is just something completely unexpected and amazingly heartfelt, especially when Joell spits his 12 bars…

Lyrics do not disappoint. The production doesn’t disappoint. The creativity is oozing from this project…That’s the best way to describe it in a nutshell.

The Bad:

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there is a huge flaw with this mixtape. If you’re already a fan of J.O. and Novel, you’re going to notice a few old songs sprinkled throughout the mixtape. “Here The Next”, “So Much More”, “Stand Up” and “Raindrops” all make the cut of the mixtape for some reason, although the first song is extremely aged, the second was featured on Novel’s “Suspended Animation” mixtape, the third was supposed to be a lead single for Joell’s CD almost a year ago, and the last was the next to last cut on the “Slaughterhouse” album…which was released in June of 09.

It’s nice to have one place for all of the songs, but if you already have these songs and have played the crap out of them, you’re going to feel a little robbed here. If you’ve never heard any of those songs…ignore this section. It doesn’t apply to you.

Bottom Line:

Regardless if over a third of the mixtape is relatively old music, it’s still one of the best mixtapes to come out this year. You can’t deny good music, and this mixtape is full of it. Make sure you don’t miss out on this.

Eljay’s Favorites

• “Ghetto Part 1”
• “All The Right Moves” feat. One Republic
• “Stand Up”
• “Stressful” feat CriStyle aka The Ink

(Download the Mixtape HERE for free. Make sure to say thank you. lol)