Monday, May 18, 2009

Big Sean - UKNOWBIGSEAN Mixtape Review


For my next review I will be talking about Big Sean’s new mixtape UKNOWBIGSEAN Finally Famous Vol. 2. At the request of my man BP, I will be trying something different; I am going to review the album as a whole instead of track by track. I will rate the lyrics, flow, beats, and overall flow of the mixtape by themselves but I will still finish with a final album review.



Lyrics: Big Sean is a talented emcee and I would say that his lyrically ability and cleverness is easily his biggest asset. He does a very good job of using inner rhyming throughout his verses and many times finishes the line with multi-syllabic words, which is very difficult. They prove that he is a capable rapper and he isn’t, as I call it, “elementary” in his rhyming ability. My favorite part about Big Sean is his punch lines, he is a very funny guy and many times he brings lines that remind me of a young Ludacris. Just to give a few examples “Money is like fucking/ if you grind hard enough then the bitch’ll keep coming” or “And I can't feel my cardio. Motha fuckas walkin in with shrooms. Now I'm fin to feel like Mario.” These particular examples are not the most impressive lyrically but I think that word play is essential to any emcee. Seeing how this is a mixtape that includes Big Sean rapping over other people’s beats, the lyrics are what is really being showcased and overall I think it is very impressive.
9/10

Flow: Big Sean is able to get the job done and develop well written and well practiced lyrics My only complaint is that there are spots on the album where I feel he is rapping too slowly. I know that a rapper can’t always (and many can never) be spittin’ Busta Rhymes or Twista fast but there are certain songs like Say You Will where he didn’t seem to speed up his flow enough to match the beat. As I said earlier, many of these beats were made for other rappers so I am not going to hate, but if there was a problem with the rapping aspect of the tape it would be delivery and not preparation or creativity
6/10

Beats: This is tough to review for a mixtape, I can pretty much guarantee the beats will be dope on the album based on what I have heard. Kanye West, Pharell and The-Dream will be producing stuff for his first album. For the most part, the beats were chosen well for his rhymes and they help the songs. But, there aren’t really any head-knockers on this tape. There are plenty of beats that compliment his voice and flow – UKNOWBIGSEAN and Intro but nothing spectacular. My favorite beat is probably from Supa Dupa because it is simple and allows his lyrics to be heard during the verses but the riff during the chorus slaps. The beats certainly do not take away from the mixtape but they do not add as much as I think they could.
7/10

Overall: First lemme just say that this mixtape is 30 tracks; Big Sean is just giving away 30 free tracks, which already makes it more than worth it. There are 6 skits on the mixtape spread out pretty evenly and all of them include Big Sean explaining a certain aspect of the production or his road to where he is. I think that the tape has a great combination of full 4-minute songs with multiple verses and choruses along with 1-2 minute pieces of just a verse over a cool beat. I think UKNOWBIGSEAN Finally Famous Vol. 2 flows well from start to finish and is a great piece along the way until the album finally drops. Big Sean brings a mix of feel good hip hop and straight stuff and I really enjoy the tape.
8/10

Favorite tracks: Who Knows (ft. Mike Posner), UKNOWBIGSEAN, Intro



UKNOWBIGSEAN - downlo@d

1 comment:

  1. Great Review

    i agree his punchlines are hilarous,hes very witty

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