Crooked I - The Block Obama Mixtape

I've been awaiting this project for months now and finally it's here. Finally I had a chance to sit down with the Long Beach native known as Crooked I's new material, in the the form of a mixtape. "The Block Obama" has been heavilly anticipated in L.A. and abroad for some time now, as in recent weeks we've seen a few of the tracks from it leak and give us all an abundance of hope. Hope for a new west coast, a return to L.A.'s dominance and the possibility that Crooked I, a downright lethal emcee, would finally get that ever so coveted respect that he truly deserves....

I have to say after 2 months of waiting time and lofty expectations of this to be an all out insane effort, bumping it was a pretty sobering experience. It falls short of what it was supposed to have been in my opinion. Crooked was supposed to flex his muscles a bit, figuratively speaking. He was supposed to utilize his vast connections and link up with some of the west's more talented and respected emcee's and producers. What was Ras Kass doin that you couldn't have hit him on the horn and asked for a verse? Why couldn't you have gotten a beat or two from someone like Battlecat, DJ Quik or Mack 10? No disrespect to Christian Crooner Jim Gettum or the hit-or-miss Komplex, they both did their thing on here at times, but come on Crooked, you gotta understand that now isn't the time to be fickle about ya budget. Ask, beg, grovel, whatever....do what ya gotta do, but you have to link up with other worthy names out west that are on your level lyrically and production wise to keep things interesting. I'm not saying don't bring the new guys along, by all means give em' their shots, but also be sure to give the kids what they've been fiendin' over.

Look, the tape as a whole I would say is somewhat of a success...Crooked establishes his new crew of sorts Horse Shoe Gang, his new company C.O.B. (Circle Of Bosses) and puts on a few new producers who were sparingly effective. There's even a few songs on here that I really was feelin'..."Welcome To My City" is a brillant ode to the LBC, "Straighten It Out" is groovy & reminiscent of L.A.'s past "playalistic" glory and "Trafficin' Green" is an effective new take on an older sample and a gloriously grandiose tale of vice. If Crooked had stuck to the script that these three joints followed he would've had a classic tape. Instead he chose to sell out in tiny portions along the way and that watered down this effort a lot. Mainly it was his selection of beats that he chose to freestyle over that I had the biggest problem with. "A Mille"? "Stronger"?....not what I had expected, nor what I wanted...

Then there's the whole "Obama" theme Crooked chose to run with...He shouts Obama's name repetitively during the tape, but rarely recites any verses that I think truly reflect any of the good senator's view's or initiative's. I like that he's subconsciously raising awareness about voting for Barack and supporting the right candidate though, but a more politically tinged project would've followed the theme better....lol, I would've loved to see them pass this out at the DNC!

One thing I will credit Crooked for doing and praise him endlessly for is making this project his, by keeping the features to a minimum and putting out 20+ tracks for the people who waited so patiently. Despite it's overall lack of high brow features, Crooked does get fellow up and coming Long Beach resident G. Malone and hardcore NYC Lyrical sensation Nino Bless to contribute well to this.

"The Block Obama" provides a hefty load of music and a decent production lineup, but Crooked doesn't dazzle as often as he usually does. Often he sounds un-inspired and one can only wonder if those endless Hip-Hop Weekly's didn't drain him creatively. Not saying he suffered a complete writer's block on this, there's a good amount of meaty metaphors, just not as many berserk, rapid fire bars as in the past. All in all it's the best tape to drop this week, but I doubt, beyond a handful of tracks that it has any real longevity.

-BIG D O




1.Intro
2. Rappers Ain’t Shit
3. A Millie Freestyle prod. by Komplex
4.Trafficin’ Green
5.I’m Cold ft. G Malone and Hard Head
6.Hood Politics
7.Straightin’ it Out ft. Sauce da Boss
8. Hard on da Blvd
9. Stronger Freestyle
10. Circle Gnag ft. Horse Shoe Gang prod. by Jim Gettum
11. Freak [NC-17] Prod. by KG
12. W’s Down prod. by Komplex
13. New West Baby ft. Coniyac
14. Signs ft. One-2 prod. by Komplex
15. Lift em Up ft. Nino Bless
16. Horse Shoe Gang Freestyle
17. Swagga Like Crook prod. by Komplex
18. What’s Hip-Hop?
19. Fast Money
20. Welcome to My City
21. [Bonus track] I’m a Problem ft. S.C

http://www.sendspace.com/file/2nf9qf