Owl Pharaoh dropped a week ago; Time to review

Entry posted by Neo Uruk May 28, 2013

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So, G.O.O.D./Hustle Gang affiliate Travi$ Scott dropped his mixtape "Owl Pharaoh" last Tuesday. Get it here.

Travi$ has been featured a lot recently, as a producer and artist on G.O.O.D. Music's collab album Cruel Summer. He produced the track "Sin City" as well as giving it a verse. His voice is fairly unique. He also released "Upper Echelon," a single featuring T.I. and 2 Chainz. Travi$ has also been featured on T.I.'s Hustle Gang tape, Get Dough or Die (G.D.O.D.) which you can get here. Another bonus, DJs Qwond3r and Rieces Pieces, known as the duo KickRaux, have remixed Upper Echelon and replaced T.I.'s verse with a somewhat fitting Juicy J verse. Peep the remix on their soundcloud

Now, I'm a believer that Travi$ is part of the future of rap, alongside producer/rappers such as Hit-Boy and K.R.I.T. They all have mixtapes in which they show (in Hit-Boy's case, excellent) production skills and (in Hit-Boy's case, lacking) rapping. Hit-Boy did improve from his rapping debut to his collab HS87's All I've Ever Dreamed Of.

And, finally, the review.

Meadow Creek: 9/10 intro. The best I've seen since the intro to Kanye's MBDTF. A blend of haunting production, good transitioning, superb reverb, and all kinds of crazy good production. Lyrics are a little lacking, and it could be longer. The humor towards the end is also pretty good for what it is.

Bad Mood: 8/10 good flow, good piecing together, would be a mediocre track if it wasn't for the same style of chilling production and the latter half of the song.

Upper Echelon [ft. T.I., 2 Chainz]: 10/10, while I'm not a fan of the #TURNUP era, this song is a very good product of Turn Up. This song is a finely produced, ad-lib filled dream. It provides mellow moments, then just dumbs out. If you don't know what that phrase means, listen to the song and you'll learn quickly. It also features a respectable 2 Chainz verse, which Travi$ should get a plaque for. That !@#$ doesn't happen often.

Chaz (Interlude) [ft Toro Y Moi].: 9/10 Trippy, trippy.

Uptown [ft. A$AP Ferg] 10/10 absolute fire. Trap banger. Ferg hops on with his best flow, riding the success of his single "Work" The claim "I'm a mother$%&@in monster" definitely fits.

Hell of a Night: 8/10 Excellent production. Rapping starts off weak, but then he matches the beat change into Apache hellfire.

Blocka La Flame: 7/10 Not sure why Pusha T ever pulled his verse(s) off the Caine's Wrath version of "Blocka". Could be longer.

Naked: 7/10(8/10) ehhhhh. Intro kinda weakens it unless you're inebriated. Then it's pretty good.

Dance on the Moon [ft. Theophilius London, Paul Wall]: 10/10 The only Theo song I really liked was Last Name London. This is his way of showing me never to doubt someone's capability. Killed the feature on one of Travi$'s stronger showings, too. Paul Wall is a pleasant surprise and a nod to Travi$'s Houston roots. PW's verse isn't his finest wrk, but it's still a good showing. Production is strong, seems EDM as much as Hip Hop at the perfect times. Almost seems like a Cudi/Ratatat/MGMT second-coming.

MIA: 8/10 The haunting intro leads into a haunting groan, then into strong trippy rap. By no means a deep song, but still pretty....inspiring if you're in the mindframe. Outro is just as good as rest of the song

Drive [ft James Fauntleroy]: 6.5/10 The Sucker Free skit to start it off really ligthens the mood, followed by yet another chilly beat. James Fauntleroy is coming off a hot feature from Drake's "Girls Love Beyonce" and compliments the beat. Travi$ doesn't really fit the music, but the drums atone for it. Overall, though, this is probably the weakest track just because of all the transitioning. Could've been much better as two separate tracks.

Quintana [ft. Wale]: 10/10 Not only does Travi$ show off on the beat, Wale is one of the best rappers in the game, and shows his rapping muscle off. Wale has the prowess to snap on any type of beat, at any time. I still have no idea why other rappers want him as a feature,

. The production over the last minute is pretty much the ideal superhero music, except it's about drugs.

Bandz [ft. Meek Mill]: 9/10 Absolute banger, and features fire-spitter Meek Mill instead of ADHD mind-is-everywhere Meek Mill.

This is the most praise I've ever given to a mixtape, and is pretty much a lock for Mixtape of the Year. Not even Wale's Folarin is close. Crazy part is I don't even like trap rap that much.

* Being Renegade'd means to be vastly outdone on your own track. The term was coined after Jay Z decided to remix Eminem and Royce da 5'9's "Renegade," in which general consensus ws that Eminem's verses overshadowed Jay Z's contributions.