This week I'm going to cover The First Flight and Airborne by Diggy Simmons Pilot Talk by Curren$y and Return of Eva by Big K.R.I.T.
The First Flight
I feel like I'm on Diggy's street team because I keep telling everyone I know to listen to these mixtapes but they are THAT good imo. He has room for improvement but he definitely has the formula down for a successful mainstream album.
If you don't know the formula, I will briefly discuss it right now. All you have to do is write a couple of songs for the females, have a couple of club bangers and with the rest of the tracks you can be a little introspective.
When I first listened to this mixtape I was thinking that he needed a theme or a back story or maybe some songs about a story to improve his skills but then I figured out what his theme was.
He likes to use the plane metaphor to represent his rise to stardom on his own. He spends a majority of the mixtape saying that he could just leech off of the connections that his famous dad and uncle have but he wants to pave his own way and prove to the world that he can make it on his own without their help just on pure skill.
I promise you will get tired of him talking about how he can make it on his own but it is a bit uplifting in the sense that if you take what he's saying and apply it to your life it will make you feel better about whatever current adversaries/challenges you are facing.
This is a pretty solid mixtape overall so a majority of the tracks stand out. I will just post a few.
Airborne
Fast forward a few months later and he releases Airbourne. You can already tell he has improved someone and of course he has a bit more bass to his voice like his balls dropped a bit. I'm pretty sure on his next mixtape he will continue with the whole flight metaphors and go with Jet Setter or something on a worldwide scale.
I love the first minute on this track especially the line
As I take this journey i recognize my potential for success is just as great as my potential for failure.
Fully aware of my current strengths and future weaknesses, experienced by those who came before me.
The greats of my past have walked this way, left blueprints and they've lost themselves relapsed in recovery.
I realize I am not the only young explorer however i am in no race the journey is all of ours, but i can not lie i desire the victory of achievement to be mine, humbled however fearless i am exposed to the criticism of onlookers, but my faith and direction come from above.
I am airborne
This is the direction that I'd like to see him heading in. He has a bit of a story on this story and I would like him to get more into doing that but on an album scale. His mentors are Pharrell and Lupe Fiasco so I'm pretty sure he'll head in that direction sooner than later.
I'm not sure why but there is something about this beat that I just love and it happens to be on one of his tracks for the ladies. He does have a few more of them on this mixtape. He also has Chris Brown featured on this track.
Pilot Talk
I have seen him mentioned a few places and even seen this album available to download but I always overlooked it. I decided to give him a chance after reading the thread on him. For awhile I actually thought this was a mixtape of his but it's a studio release.
Some background info for him from his wiki page.
Quote:
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In 2002, Curren$y signed to Master P's No Limit Records and was a member of the 504 Boyz. The Song "Get Back" by 504 Boyz made it to the Malibu's Most Wanted soundtrack. Curren$y appeared on 5 songs in Master P's Good Side, Bad Side album, released in 2004. Later on in 2004, Curren$y signed with Cash Money Records and Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment, where he remained until late 2007. While still at Young Money, Curren$y created Fly Society with skateboarder Terry Kennedy, first as a clothing company, then expanding to release music. He released the song, "Where da Cash At" as the lead single for his Young Money debut, Music To Fly To, in 2006 but due to several push backs and lack of promotion, Curren$y decided to leave the label and venture off to do business on his own. For several months throughout 2008, Curren$y released a series of mixtapes. Though he now had the co-sign of one of the top hip hop magazines, Curren$y was still overlooked by major labels. He appeared in the video for DJ Khaled's single, "We Takin' Over". In early times Curren$y wrote some of Kanye West's Music
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The way he flows I thought he was from Virginia area because he has this Pusha T type flow. He's actually from New Orleans, Louisiana.
I found this gem of a track while listening to the album and that gave me the motivation to push through and listen to the rest of it. I wasn't really feeling him on the first two tracks.
This beat is so chill and smooth. I love it and just like the first comment on that video says, it makes me want to smoke and I don't even smoke.
Return of 4 Eva
He has put out mixtapes since about 05 but this is the first mixtape that is entirely self-produced.
As much as I like him as a rapper I equally like him as a producer and think he did an excellent job with this one.
K.R.I.T. is an acronym, meaning King Remembered In Time.
An A&R once told me “you can determine the worth of a song within 15 seconds of it playing”
With complete n utter lack of the fact that it takes takes all 3 minutes and 40seconds of a song
to comprehend what I’m sayin’
It aint a single if it don’t fly
It aint a hit if it don’t ride
Now he couldn’t tell me the components of a smash but the ringtones were their alltime high
And a rappers only as big as his chain, the flashier the better
Life ain't nothing but an EQ of highs and lows
I got no time to waste, i got more bills to pay, i got more mouths to feed, now, now, now,
i got no time to play, i got no need to stay, when aint no money around, round,
whats a king without a crown? what's a car without some sound?