This album could be the last ever release from NYC’s FreeIceCream crew, so download it while you can. “You Owe Me Five Bucks” features Kats on rhymes, Domer on beats and DJ SmutVillain on the wheels. Click below to download Kats’ “You Owe Me Five Bucks” for FREE:

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B.o.B “No Genre” Album Review
This mixtape is the first time I’ve ever really listened to B.o.B. I mean, we all know that Airplanes track from the radio and television. And I’ve heard a couple song from his last album. But I never really sat down to listen to B.o.B until this week. I guess the fact that “No Genre” was available for FREE download made it easy to get, and once I had it in my rotation, I just couldn’t take it out. “No Genre” is one of those free mixtapes that is much better than most albums I pay money for these days, and it has made me a big B.o.B fan pretty much overnight.

Why I Like This Album?

1. It’s FREE - The fact that a cat like B.o.B put out an album’s worth of free music says something to me, mainly because he didn’t have to. Dude has a big hit song on the radio, and is at the height of his popularity. This means he could have released this for purchase and everybody would have bought it. B.o.B could have made a lot of money off of “No Genre.” But the fact that he decided to give it out for free kinda shows me that he’s not caught up in being rich or famous, and he touches on that point a lot in “No Genre.” In fact, B.o.B drops verses in Feet Don’t Fail Me Now, track of the week Not Lost and American Dreamin that examine his rise from obscurity to super-stardom from a real humble and realistic viewpoint.

One good example of this viewpoint is in the song Feet Don’t Fail Me Now, which features T.I. In that track, B.o.B drops the following verse about how his new found fame hasn’t made him forget about where he came from, and won’t stop him from staying on his grind:

Yeah signed yours sincerely/
I’ve been up on my game, really they just started listening/
So when you talk about the greats you got to mention me/
And if you’re smelling dro you know that I’m in the vicinity/
Flawless with symmetry yeah since elementary/
Niggas bite the style like they trying to swap identities/
Empty refrigerators all I see up in my memory/
Now I’m in the club with complementary Hennessy/
But this a jungle so you hear the snakes slithering/
These niggas fake like a face with no blemishes/
So I’m moving with the force of an Olympian/
So cold with it you would think that I invented it/
Yeah I got a million ways to get it in/
All day back and forth like tennis is/
Another day at the office to handle business/
From the beginning I’m sprinting to where the finish is/

2. It’s conscious – I also always get impressed when rappers who have received mainstream success continue to spit socially or politically conscious rhymes. Especially since that’s not the type of stuff that gets radio airplay or Late Night spots these days. While “No Genre” is a mixtape, and therefore contained a lot of party style group and club tracks, B.o.B also laid down a handful of serious songs with real opinions and messages. Tracks like Shoot up the Station, video of the week The Watchers and quotable of the week Dr. Aden all touch on anti-establishment, conspiracy theory type of themes.

A good example of this type of rhyming can be found on The Watchers, which could be my favorite song on the mixtape. On that track, B.o.B drops the following verse which touches upon all types of deep thought-provoking shit:

Yes I feel the end, the end is close/
The same thing happened eons ago/
To know exactly you’d have to read up some more/
Every day technology speeds up some more/
As is above, so is below/
Some feel the heat yet some feel the cold/
We are the souls, yes we have been chosen/
Some roll with angels and demons and those but/
Hold up Bob don’t go there/
You know that they watching, they all see and stare/
But they can’t stop me I’m already there/
And y’all ain’t seen shit but y’all already scared/
I’m gone, high like fructose, fructose/
You wanna know the truth? Really you don’t, you don’t/
It’ll blow you out your mind like a ufo, ufo/
I’m basically a resident of Pluto, Pluto, you know/
But you’ll probably be the same one hating/
Saying every rapper is in the Freemasons/
While the cops giving out free mace to your face/
Now how do that taste?/
I’m out of my mind/
These videos telling y’all lies bra/
Telling y’all we holding evil hand signs bra?/
Last time I checked I’m from the east side bra/
So do your research and make your own mind up/
‘Cause us musicians have influence on this mic but/
They don’t like that so they conquer and divide us/

3. Storytelling - Y’all know I’m a sucker for hip-hop storytelling, and B.o.B shows off crazy skills throughout “No Genre.” The manner in which he incorporates emotional dialogue into his stories is really impressive. Cold As Ice tells the story of a man who robs a bank with his girl only to end up in prison after she rats him out. Dr. Aden tells the story of a doctor who is unknowingly infecting her patients with biological chemicals as part of a government experiment. And Attraction is a story about B.o.B’s experience with women.

Probably the best example of B.o.B including dialogue in his storytelling can be found in Cold As Ice. In this story, a man plans and executes a bank robbery with his girl, only to be betrayed when the operation get foiled. The following verse tells the story of this man’s reaction to the events:

So I realized it was over when the SWAT team kicked in the door/
So I dropped my gun and the cash and then I got bum-rushed to the floor/
And they took me into the station, and they started the interrogation/
And I said, ‘I ain’t sayin’ a word ’til I get appropriate representation’/
So as I get escorted out to my surprise what do I see/
There’s my baby sitting in cuffs telling the officers everything/
And I stand there in amazement trying to find an explanation/
And the cops come in and restrain me, and they mace me, and they tase me/
I said, ‘Baby, why baby? What did I took to forsake you?/
How could you turn your back on me? You’re selfish, I hate you!/
All I ever wanted to do was love you. Were you faking?’/
So I snatched a gun from an officer, and I cocked it, and I aimed it/
And said, ‘This is for all the pain you done put me through you ungrateful/
How could you? All I wanted to do was save you!’/
And here I am, day fifty-five, with fifty-five hundred to go/
when you love a girl who’s as cold as ice eventually you’ll get froze/

Overall, I highly recommend taking advantage of this FREE download. “No Genre” is one of those mixtapes that sets the bar high for what a mixtape is supposed to be. It’s got a little something for everybody, and it definitely has me looking forward to B.o.B’s next major release. Peace.

B.o.B “No Genre” Track Listing:

1. Beast Mode (prod. by Infinity)
2. So So (prod. by Jim Jonsin)
3. How U Do That (prod. by Kutta)
4. Feet Don’t Fail Me Now (feat. T.I.) (prod. by Kutta)
5. Higher (feat. Playboy Tre x CyHi Da Prynce x Bun B) (prod. by Polow da Don)
6. Shoot Up The Station (prod. by Kutta)
7. Not Lost (feat. T.I.) (prod. by JR Rotem)
8. Cold As Ice (prod. by Mike Caren & B.o.B)
9. The Watchers (prod. by B.o.B)
10. Batman Flow (feat. Donnis) (prod. by Dr. Luke)
11. American Dreamin’ (prod. by Mike Caren & B.o.B)
12. Grand Hustle Kings (feat. Young Dro x T.I.) (prod. by Quincy Jones)
13. Dr. Aden (prod. by Jack Splash)
14. Attraction (prod. by B.o.B)
15. Game Time (prod by J. Lack)
16. All City Chess Club: I’m Beaming (Remix)

Living in NYC, I come across so many fair weather Jets fans who have jumped on the bandwagon since the team’s big playoff run last year. And it’s annoying as fuck. Two years ago, I could go to any bar in Brooklyn and catch my slowly up-and-coming Cleveland Browns (who sadly lost an overtime nail biter to the Jets a couple weeks back) on TV. Now every bar I go to is filled with a new wave of Jets fans, and the bartenders refuse to turn to the Browns game.

But being a fan of a struggling team myself, I can appreciate the die hard cats who have always stuck with their team like Strange Famous Records’ artist Prolyphic. This video is for his track NY Jets – a song about the anxiety involved in being a Jets fan in years past. Luckily the team has battled back from years of struggle, and is pretty much a lock for the Wild Card playoff spot this year. Congrats to the Jets, but watch out for my Browns next year!

If you like this track, you can download it for FREE here.

I downloaded this mixtape over the weekend after coming across RoQ’y TyRaiD’s video for Woosah. I liked the video so much that I downloaded the entire mixtape – which impressed me when I got around to bumping it yesterday. I recommend checking it out. Click below to download RoQ’y TyRaiD’s “The Millennium Man” for FREE:

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Never heard of this cat before, but somebody emailed me this song and I was feeling it. The Future is a track by Orlando-based emcee Self from his new mixtape “Fight or Flight” – which you can download for FREE here. Click below to listen to Self’s The Future:

[See post to listen to audio]

And click the following link to download the track for FREE: Download

This is another FREE album download that somehow made it to my inbox and ended up getting a lot of playtime on my iPod this weekend. “True Theory Outtakes” is a seven track preview EP from Portland emcee Luck-One being released in preparation for his upcoming album “True Theory.” Click below to download Luck-One’s “True Theory Outtakes” for FREE:

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These cats sent me their new single 4 BK 4 Eva for feature consideration about a week ago. I liked the track so much that I ended up listening to their entire “The Grey-Area” album this weekend, and definitely recommend the FREE download. Vegas is a Brooklyn-based emcee, and Kil is a Philly-based beatmaker. Click below to download Vegas & Kil’s “The Grey-Area” for FREE:

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Never heard of this emcee before, but I liked the track when it hit my inbox. Disappear is a collaboration between Chicago-based hip-hop artists Davis Jackson, of a group called the 80′s Babies, and Thaione Davis – who caught my eye earlier this year with his videos for Quality Control and Everybody Got A Say So. Thaione Davis and Dee Jackson are currently working on a full length project featuring a handful of Chicago producers. Click below to listen to Davis Jackson’s Disappear:

[See post to listen to audio]

And click the following link to download the track for FREE: Download

This is a nice little freebie that found it’s way into my inbox this weekend. Sleeping Giant is a track from Epsilon Project’s “Audacity,” and this is a remix of that track done by Preme. The track features Dopamine Rush, and the remix can be found on the “Audacity Limited Edition Package.” If you like this track, check out the group’s video for Inspiration. Click below to listen to Epsilon Project’s Sleeping Giant Remix:

[See post to listen to audio]

And click the following link to download the track for FREE: Download

Big ups to the homie BeatRoot for sending this one over. “Brand New Kicks” is a FREE album from Vancouver-based hip-hop group Cloud City Classic. While I normally stay away from 90′s style throwback albums these days, this one really hit for me when I downloaded it the other day. Check it out. Click below to download Cloud City Classic’s “Brand New Kicks” for FREE:

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