Album Review: This Ain't No Mixtape

Curren$y - This Ain't No Mixtape

After stints with No Limit and Cash Money, Curren$y spent 2008 getting his independent hustle on, dropping 7 mixtapes, and generating a nice buzz in the process. Finally, he's come with the official album, appropriately titled, This Ain't No Mixtape. If you've followed Curren$y's mixtape game, from Higher Than 30,000 Feet to Fin..., you'll hear the difference as soon as you start listening to the album. This Ain't No Mixtape is clean and focused, as opposed to his mixtapes which, as good as they were, were naturally all over the place.

Spitta takes time out on the intro, "The Briefing", to walk through his mixtape history, and prep the listener for what they're in store for. He begins with, "Get It Ya Self", a song obviously inspired by his failed experiences with former record labels. Next up is the single, "Blown Away", which is followed by "Scared Of Monstas" - the only two songs to be released in their entirety prior to the album's release.

Then comes "Elevator Music", one of many smoker's anthems Curren$y supplies on the album. Each of the album's 16 joints are dope, with the standout tracks being, "Blown Away", "The Jets Son", "Sail On", and "Galaxy". He doesn't overdo it with the guest appearances either, with stellar performance coming in the form his team, Fly Society, Young Chris, Mickey Factz, Amanda Diva, and Bun B. 

While a couple of the tracks aren't as strong, none are skip-worthy, and the album flows cleanly all the way through. Such continuity should be attributed to Caurren$y working exclusively with production team Monsta Beatz, as nothing seems out of place and there is an clear chemistry between Spitta's weed-influence rhymes and Monsta Beatz's futuristic sounding beats (they sampled The Jetsons theme song on one of the tracks). 

It's great to see Curren$y come with his album, as too often rappers like him, who leave major labels, can never, for whatever reason, get their album out. In Spitta's case going independent was the way to go, and he took full advantage of the power of the internet. The album is not in stores, rather only available for download via amalgamdigital.com.  

Blown Away...