Evan Nabavian has a lot of old soul music.
Ah mixtapes. I used to come home from school, fire up Windows XP, and check newsgroups for the newest Big Mike, Kay Slay, and Clue tapes. I would download them all and delete everything except the D-Block tracks. But most of that probably doesn’t make a lick of sense to you youngins with your I-pads and Face Books!
At least Peter Rosenberg knows what I’m talking about. What’s Poppin Vol. 1 is a mixtape in the tradition of the early aughts: a pack of new songs from established and buzzing artists. Bonus points for exclusives and no DJ drops. Blogs have rendered this kind of mixtape obsolete and no one misses it except the mixtape DJs, most of whom have been strung up on piracy charges or relegated to ancillary music industry jobs.
The two or three most memorable tracks on Poppin come from Action Bronson, the Albanian rapper who sounds uncannily like Ghostface. But GFK comparisons end at the surface; Bronson has come into his own with a morbid sense of humor and the combined appetite of Homer Simpson and Uncle Phil. Case in point: “Action,” where Bronson raps over a Peter Gabriel sample about the life on the road and mustard and cow tongue sandwiches. Equal parts hilarious and dope.
The second is “5 X 8,” a blog rap posse cut where Maffew Ragazino, Bronson, Homeboy Sandman, Kaimbr, and Jon Connor get eight bars apiece. Rosenberg’s ultra-minimal beat is a little too minimal, leaving wide open spaces between trumpet bursts. Bronson and Connor excel, but Boy Sand squanders his verse on congratulating Rosenberg on his engagement. It’s an awkward injection of Rosenberg’s on-air character that doesn’t belong in a song.
“Tapas” is more standard Bronson fare. The charged up beat from producer Party Supplies brings out a scorned, defiant bravado. Bronson steps on grapes in France and spurns his disapproving father. Now that I think about it, he and Ghostface actually share more than a shrill cadence. They both pack their rhymes with tangible detail and they both sound great over fuzzy lo-fi grooves.
Otherwise, Tyler, the Creator and Domo Genesis rap over “Got It Twisted,” if you’re into that kind of thing. Tyler mocks Rosenberg and Domo raps, “Nigga, listen. I’ve been killin’ shit since I was the age of the face that R. Kelly pissed in.” lol.
Download:
ZIP: Peter Rosenberg Presents — What’s Poppin’ Vol. 1
