Each week, FACT trawls through Datpiff, Livemixtapes, SoundCloud and beyond so you don’t have to.
While we do our damndest to cover the best rap releases on the internet, sometimes things get passed over or missed completely. With that in mind, we’ve once again assembled a list of the year’s most slept-on mixtapes — including a few we didn’t catch the first time around.
https://soundcloud.com/briccbabyshitro/work
Bricc Baby Shitro
Nasty Dealer
For fans of: Young Jeezy
“The self-described Son of a Bricc Lady makes his debut under his newest moniker with Nasty Dealer, a mixtape that finds the the LA-to-ATL hustler rapping about the trap like its his birthright with nonchalance and devil-in-the-details lyricism. But the most impressive part of Nasty Dealer is how its production draws from both Atlanta rap regulars and European rap obsessives but still sounds cohesive: whether HPG or Pelican Fly, every producer is onboard for sparse, bass-heavy horrorshows.”
Cousin Stizz
Suffolk County
For Fans Of: Kid Cudi
“Suffolk County is Stizz’s debut full-length and shows a promise that should help focus even more attention on his native city. If you weren’t listening carefully you might assume you were listening to the latest offering from one of Atlanta’s plethora of rappers, but Stizz keeps it local with the requisite set of references buried amongst the chat of dope, dirt and dames… Suffolk County’s a solid, enjoyable tape, but Stizz has far more to offer, we can just feel it.”
Johnny May Cash
My Last Days
For fans of: Lil Durk
“Chicago’s Johnny May Cash has been on our radar for some time, and My Last Days feels like his chance to finally shine. Often overshadowed by his popular, prodigiously talented brother Young Chop (who incidentally produced most of the tape), Cash’s Autotuned sing-song style is nothing new — think Lil Durk’s or Chief Keef’s more melodic moments, or King Louie’s terminally-underrated Jeep Music tape — but My Last Days doesn’t concern itself with innovation, simply with coherence and quality. You read that right: it’s a tape that’s not overlong and appears to have been crafted, mastered and sequenced with genuine care and attention to detail.”
K Major
Category V
For fans of: The-Dream
“The singer’s secret weapon is his HPG associates; the majority of the tape is handled by C Note, DJ Spinz, Childish Major and other Hoodrich affiliates, and that elevates what otherwise might be forgettable songs. Major’s a solid vocalist, but the faded, synth-heavy ATL production gives Category V a lush, neon-drenched, post-Drake sheen that’s hard not to fall for. Those of you who weren’t fussed with the dusty, street-rap influenced If You’re Reading This… would do well to check this out.”
Lil Silk
Son of a Hustler 2
For fans of: Young Thug
“While last year’s Son of a Hustler showed plenty of promise, and he’s been making strides ever since, Silk is in stasis for the time being, one or two steps from being a mainstream concern. Thankfully Son of a Hustler 2 does plenty to remind us why we were so excited this time last year… Whether Silk actually breaks out remains to be seen, but he’s giving himself the best possible jump-start with Son of a Hustler 2.”
Matti Baybee
So Abnormal
For fans of: Sicko Mobb
“Sure, he might have first caught our attention as Chief Keef’s cousin, but with So Abnormal, 17-year-old Matti Baybee is firmly out of his infamous relative’s shadow… With the Autotuned melodies and synth-splattered productions (if not always the tempo) of bop, plus the teenaged topics of his lyrics, Matti finds a third way between Keef’s recent weirdness and Sicko Mobb’s brilliant exuberance.”
Maxo Kream
Maxo 187
For fans of: A$AP Ferg
From the moment it whirrs to life, Maxo 187 makes one thing clear: this tape is not for the faint of heart. Maxo unravels tales of Houston gang life, trapping and shooting over horror score synths and trunks full of bass. With its nods to the city’s chopped-and-screwed heritage, Maxo does Houston in a way that A$AP never could. If 50 minutes is too rough for you, check out ‘1998’ and ‘Cell Boomin’, two of the “lighter” offerings.
RJ & Choice
Rich Off Mackin
For fans of: YG
“This is the mixtape for anyone looking for a better successor to YG’s My Krazy Life than DJ Mustard’s uneven 10 Summers, with the cultural touchstones of Freddie Gibbs and Madlib’s Piñata… The tape doesn’t wear out its welcome at 15 tracks, and when the ratchet formula starts to go stale, there’s the smooth G-funk of ‘Do It’ and the punchy ‘Money Calling’ to mix things up.”
Sauce Twinz & SosaMann
Sauce Theft Auto
For fans of: Migos
The Sauce Factory’s best output since last year’s breakthrough In Sauce We Trust finds rappers-to-watch Sauce Twinz (the pairing of Sauce Walka and Sancho Saucy) living up to their “Houston Migos” billing with the addition of SosaMann. Take buoyant, Migos-styled trap rap, drench it in (even more) codeine and you’ll have an idea of what to expect from Sauce Theft Auto. Houston is on fire right now: if BeatKing is for the strip club and Maxo Kream is for the streets, Sauce is for the car.
31
Scale Tales
For fans of: Gucci Mane
“Opener ‘Crooks & Castles’ turns streetwear into street tales and sets the tape’s tone early: “This that no father figure shit.” This is some of the hardest, no-fucks-given Atlanta trap we’ve heard in a while, more than living up to its Scale Tales title… Like we always say: better late than never.”
