I caught Mystikal six months ago at the Varsity in Baton Rouge and at 42 years old, he might still be best performer in rap. We spoke for a while outside of the club for my Boosie article and most of the interview is unintelligible. I can’t tell if I have a mediocre tape recorder or if that’s just Mystikal. Things I remember: he told me he cloned himself, he is a hologram Mystikal, and that he can’t blame the Louisiana justice system for his problems, but if you give them a rope, they will hang you.
Mystikal is ageless. Despite spending half a decade in jail, he moves and looks like 24 year old. During the interview he kept on bouncing back and forth like he was about to give a karate chop, get into a three point stance, or do the waggly fingers “Hey Let’s Put on a Show” feint. His new song “Hit Me” is an interpolation of “Say It Loud — I’m Black and I’m Proud,” which makes sense because he was been basically rapping like James Brown if James Brown had actually owned up to invented rap. (I’m sure he did at some point).
Mystikal also popped up on the new Mouse On that Track LP, which is as good as people have been saying it is — even if it does sound uncomfortably identical at times to 400 Degreez-era Juvenile. Mystikal makes an appearance and he sounds as hungry as he was before he signed to No Limit (yes, there was a time when this exists.) Point being: if Birdman is going to make a point of signing Busta and Mystikal, they could make a point of giving us an entire album of this. Maybe get some Charles Bradley to make the cypher complete.
Download:
MP3: Mystikal – “Hit Me”
MP3: Mouse on Tha Track ft. Mystikal – “Money Mayweather”
ZIP: Mouse On Tha Track – Millionaire Dreamz (Left-Click)
