DOWNLOADS OF THE WEEK: Wale ft. Kid Cudi, Mac Miller, XV

Wale ft. Kid Cudi - Focused


I read in a Complex interview that Cudi didn't want to work with Wale anymore after a wee bit of beef. So what the hell is this then? Rappers making up and being friends? That’s not gangster. I’m glad that sometimes diplomacy can get a result.

This track is a real head bopper. Nothing wrong with Wale's delivery. Real nice snappy flow. Always on the beat. Plenty of energy to get the party well and truly started. I think Kid Cudi could have been used to greater effect, but I guess the last thing Wale would want is to be upstaged.


I am a big fan of Kid Cudi. Even to the point where I can quite happily look past his average acting and enjoy the HBO show 'How To Make It In America'. I have always thought that Wale could rap but lacks the creativity that Cudi seems to effortless ooze. If you look at their careers paths it kind of makes sense. One works closely with G.O.O.D. music and the other ends up in MMG (Rick Ross' company). In my opinion one is trying to evolve hip hop and venture into new territories and the other is stuck in the mud a bit. 


Get a taste for the sound coming out from MMG and see if you are going to help be a part of paying for Rick Ross’ recent medical bills and buy the Wale album when it drops November 1st.

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Mac Miller - I Love Life, Thank You


There are some people who think twitter is pointless. Well it can get you free music! As promised after reaching 1 millions followers on twitter Mac Miller has dropped something. It's just a bit of a surprise that it's a full mixtape. But we do deserve it. We did make him a twitter-lionaire.

It used to be that you had to conquer the streets and dominate the 'hood to make it as an underground rapper. Well, now you got to survive the rough streets of Twitter, slum it in Facebook, earn mad respect in Blogland. The Internet is Brooklyn. The Internet is Compton.

The wittiness is there in the word play and lyrical precision. It’s very much a make it up as you go kind of mixtape, which is what a mixtape traditionally should be. I think saying its fully freestyled is perhaps giving him a tad too much credit. It is definitely done by feel though. What ever is on Mac’s mind is what you are listening too. No time for self-editing here. Sometimes that comes across as refreshing genius and other times a little bit sloppy on the flow.


Plenty of mixtapes these days are actually just free albums. This is a mixtape. There are no real 'songs' here. Yes Mac can flow, but as he says in the very first track 'this is where the hook be, but I ain't got no hook you pussy'. 

Best production award on the tape goes to Clams Casino (Mike Volpe). As always he thinks outside the box. Unpredictable rhythm and synth samples that can only be described as the squeaky noise you get when you are slowing letting air out through a stretched balloon. Is that out of the box enough for you?

9th Wonder also lays down the beat on the track ‘The Scoop On Heaven’. A cool use of a Temper Trap sample on ‘Love Lost’ from producer Black Diamond too.

 A nice bit of relief in the tape comes when Talib Kweli takes to the microphone in support on the track 'Family First'. Kind of makes you realize Mac always comes out harsh sounding. The smoothness of TK dominates the track.

 Mac has talent. He can rap. But never enough talent to just straight up blow up. He has had to work hard. If you keep on trucking then eventually you can get a million people snapping at you for material. Be interesting to see how many of his followers are actually not just twitter-bots. Do they really count?

Grab the lucky 13 tracks and get familiar with Miller.

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XV - Boss Level

XV completes this week’s triptych of rappers who have blown up via the good old interweb. He has shown a particular style that is hard to pinpoint but perhaps stems from his love of video games. And this track takes us back to the glory days of gaming – N.E.S. for life.

Remember that nerve-racking moment when the music shifted and you knew Bowser was just around the corner waiting to fuck you up, well this is like that. There is one massive difference though. This time Bowser is high on energy pills and boogy-ing along to dub step freak-outs. The production from Skrillex jumps from soft electronic textures to big fat vomiting bass. XV shows great skill in being able to hold all the sounds together and really work with the beat.

XV should have a new album out in 2012. I doubt this will feature on it but its still worth a listen to see what XV is all about.

DOWNLOAD HERE