I shall not lie...I am normally not a fan of mixtapes, I don't see the point, call it a damn album, you don't need to sell it, you can give it away free and still call it an album. So why am I writing a review for a mixtape? Well, there are a few reasons:
1. I am a fan of the Jealous Guys
2. There is a solid concept to it, making it more album like
3. IT IS DOPE
I shouldn't have to explain the first point but just in case you need me to I will. I (that is me, DJ Jazzpants) am a fan (I enjoy and like) the Jealous Guys (the San Francisco hip hop duo Ayinde and BizYCasa.) The second point should be rather clear as to what the common thread is for this album (yes I am calling it an album, it is more of an old style mix tape that you would make for yourself or someone else to get a point across) is love in all forms. Now on to the third point, well that is what the review is all about right? Tell you why I feel a certain why about an album, so here it goes.
A monologue by BizYCasa on his doubts of the capabilities of people to love (and know what it truly is to love and be loved) as well as an introduction to the group, "you call it natural, but we don't develop naturally, shout out to the video games 'cause they raised me too, I'm BizYCasa, he's Ayinde, it's the Jealous Guys," begins "First Sight." Both BizYCasa and Ayinde come correct with their verses on this song about the search for true love, but the song also offers a glimpse into the style of each MC, while BizYCase says the more poetic and smooth line "Ugly thoughts make beautiful brains hurt," Ayinde counters with a much more grimy (I really don't like that word but damn it works) voice and more in your face line, "I see the female dog in their faces." This is of course a generalization of the two, both can hold their own in any style, but there this captures there overall sound.
"Love You So" features Solomon & Finder who provide a great sound (both instrumentally and vocally) for this laid back track where the Jealous Guys offer their version of capturing a relationship from beginning to end in a verse, as the chorus says "Every hello has a goodbye and every night has a sunrise." Rarely does one MC outshine another on this album, but on "Pretty Tony" BizYCasa crushes it, especially his first verse. Now this is not a cut at Ayinde, who provides two solid verses, but BizYCasa's wordplay (especially his juxtaposition of words) is incredible, I debated quoting the whole verse, but since you can cop the album and track for free, just listen to it and prepare to blown away.
In one of the easiest to figure out samples of all time "Swimming (Tribute to Passion Pit)" the Jealous Guys capture the feeling of falling in love when you feel like you are floating through the air (or swimming) and Ayinde closes out the track with uplifting line "so I tell myself that I will live forever, we are the future and the weather." The 47 second long "Female Perspective" is how to do a "skit" to keep an album flowing while offering insight that wouldn't really work in a song, in short, it adds to the album instead of just being filler.
With a hauntingly yet angelic beat produced by 82 Fresh "Caged" captures the battle between "good" and "evil" going on inside all of us. Maybe it is just me, but I can see this being a huge crowd interaction song when performed live, especially the chorus featuring the line "I thought I was the one, who the fuck was I kidding," I find myself saying that each time I hear the song. On "Tears In Heaven" Ayinde and BizYCasa talk about themselves and how they will be viewed when they're, some celebrities and loved ones lost. What makes it shine is it creates a feeling for the listener and invites them to look inside him or herself and contemplate how we want to be remembered while we are here and after he pass, at the same time look back and picture those we have lost.
"My Mother" immediately reminds me of 2Pac's "Dear Mama" not because of the sound but for the pure emotion and feeling of the track. Both Ayinde and BizYCasa pour their souls out to their mothers (and in reality, all mothers) on here. I cannot due justice to the emotion captured, so I shall not even attempt it.
Ayinde shows us he can handle production as well on "Writers." The Jealous Guys offer a wide array of inspirations (good and bad) that compel them to write and create. In fact, it makes the listener feel the need to write because of all there is to capture in the world, whether in history, love, nature, or more accurately life; life, in all its beauty and pain, needs to be recorded in some way so it's not lost. The skit "Male Perspective" tackles the double standard of our society for how men and women are suppose to view sex.
If anyone wants to know how to paint a scene, should listen to "Bus Stop Jazz" where Ayinde and BizYcasa describe, well, the images and feel of the bus stop. But as you listen more and more you realize, it is not so much about a physical bus stop, but about the idea of people being bus stops (just a break before you move onto the next one.) After a few subdued and relaxed track, "Purple Rain" hits you hard, not just wish the instrumentation but Ayinde and BizYCasa's vocals, oddly enough it is rather uplifting, creates the feeling of lifting yourself up now matter what.
And just as quickly as "Purple Rain" hit, "Lingure" brings us back down. A subtle piano intro sets the mood for this track, while Ayinde and BizYCasa discuss what they witness on their streets. "Brainwash By London" continues the dirty sound and feel of "Lingure" as both MCs (at least in my ears) go after all the negative aspects of the city of San Francisco (then again at this point I have been awake for about 20 hours so I do question my judgment a bit.)
How could you title an album "The Love Mixtape" without having a track called "The Love?" Obviously you could very easily but shut up. While, Ayinde remains rather neutral on love, if anything deciding he does not want to be too attached, BizYCasa's verse is one of bitterness and love lost, captured by the line "Meet construction, By combustion, I need love and you offered destruction."
My favorite track off the album probably belongs to "Insomniac Rhapsody" and instead of offering you my take on it, I figured why not just let you check out the music video.
The album closes with "The Last Dance," where BizYCasa and Ayinde spit for a laid back but intense just over 4 with no breaks. It has a feeling of a spoken word poem more than a "rap song" and that is a great thing. This is one of those joints you can play for someone who doesn't like hip hop and they will walk away realizing they had the wrong idea of what this music is really about.
This is not a mixtape, unless you mean a tape of mixed songs you create to capture a feeling. It is not your standard rap mixtape, it is an album that just happens to be called "The Love Mixtape." It is so much an album, that Ayinde and BizYCasa keep a common unifying theme throughout. They created an album without even wanting to while so many other artists fail at doing so and instead just have a collection of random songs. But in reality you do not need to take my word for it because you can get this for free and check for yourself. Just promise me that you will remember the name The Jealous Guys and that if you do listen to the album, really listen to it because don't be surprised if you find yourself thinking you are listening to A Tribe Called Quest, if they came out 20 years later, were from Cali instead of New York and had a different sound, but that vibe is there go find it now.
Download "The Love Mixtape" here
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