Mr. G Back In The Hood
Northern Lit Studioz (2010)
01. Back In The Hood
02. Valley Thugz f. Kriminal & Nono Brown
03. Look Me In My Eyez f. Mac Devious, Bandit & Phat Joe
04. Ridin' & Reppin' Remix f. Baby Boy Ene, Tiny Locz & Juney
05. Valley 2 The Bay Thang f. Loco C
06. Spit Game Pt. 2
07. Chronic That I Smoke f. Nono Brown & Lil Boss
08. Switchin' Lanes f. Busta Brown
09. Aimin' 4 Your Dome f. Yung Stackz & Moo Moo
10. Harder Dayz f. Doc 9 & Young Rich
11. Game Of Survival f. Smokey
12. Hit Me 4 Delivery f. Kriminal
13. 5-5-9-1-Sicc f. Scarekrow
14. Well Connected f. Yonko G & Cisko
15. Keep Hatin'
16. Cali Streets f. Lil Boss & Pow Wow
17. We Mobb f. Yung Lalo & B.M.K.
18. Hatred f. Mac Devious & Phat Joe
19. Fed Up f. Silent & Baby Boy Ene
20. Splittin' Wigz f. Ben Davis & Krazy J
Review Comments (0)
English review
Mr. G is a relatively new representative of the so-called northern California homeboy rap. He hails from the city of Visalia located in the central part of the state in the 559 area code. I've been following the recording and release progress of the hereby debut. I thought for a while that I would never be able to give it an honest listen, because the artist primarily focused on digital distribution and marginalized the actual pressing of hard copies. I have a strong resolution not to listen to albums that I can't hold in my hands. Fortunately the rapper eventually went for a very limited run - literally 120 units. I managed to get in hold of one of them and I'm undoubtedly pleased. Firstly because after a couple of months this will most likely become a sought after collector's item, secondly it is simply a really good material.
Due to the fact that Mr. G is not that long in the rap game, he didn't manage to appear on a large number of cds. Please note that I haven't had a chance to listen to local Visalia recordings, but I came across his verses on such compilations as "The Strangulation" and "Centro Recordingz". It's also good to know that he was responsible for an underground "Northern Lit Sessionz Mixtape" comp. I've already mentioned the very limited pressing, but the currently reviewed "Back In The Hood" cd is a professionally released album, having nothing in common with amateurishness or a mixtape. It is a regular, full-length solo piece placed in a jewel case with a traditional CD (not a CD-R) with an imprint. What you'll get is a serious dose of 20 songs - nothing but pure music without any skits or intros. Mr. G provided more than 70 minutes of thoroughbred gangsta rap that cannot be disregarded by any northern California Latin scene fan. Subjects are typical for this sub-genre; they mainly touch upon street life in a broad sense, Norte gang affiliation, dissing the other side, representing the 559 region. You will also find a little something about smoking herb ("Chronic That I Smoke"), cars ("Switchin' Lanes"), contact networks ("Well Connected") etc. Nothing new, but Mr. G put a lot of hard work into it, you can hear emotions in his voice which obviously makes cuts more vigorous. Other than that he cared for not your average lyrics and sometimes even brought interesting rhymes, so don't expect any played-out combinations that can be foreseen a bar ahead. Here's a more or less random quote from "Keep Hatin'":
Impersonating clowns what the fuck are you smokin'?
Better put your pipe down, why the fuck are you quotin'?
All my lines, try to lie like it's you on the mic
Change your name to Lil Tyson, 'cause your ass can bite
I hope you ain't the same fool I already told once
'Cause I'm back in the hood, on the lookout for you punks
In order to be thorough let me also add that the artist smoothly moves over the beats, he's technically really fine, his high voice nicely blends with melodies. Paradoxically, what makes this cd so fresh is the deliberately non-modern production. It is far from contemporary trends, it rather continues the tradition of homeboy vibes and provides yet another dose of dark, hard, once grimy, once slightly instrumental sounds. So if you long for the 90's type of music, but at the same time value quality work (not shortcomings caused by unskilled composers, as it sometimes happens), the music that you'll hear on this one should suit your needs. One fourth of songs features original production made by Mr. G, Menti, B.M.K. and Angel; the remaining beats were jacked / taken from immense Internet vaults - they fit the overall concept surprisingly well. In fact "Back In The Hood" has only one glitch - lack of mastering. You can hear that tracks have diversified loudness, for example "Valley 2 The Bay Thang" is too silent, while "Well Connected" and "Hatred" are too intensive. Sound clarity is also far from "crystal clear", but oh well, that's the charm of really underground, street recordings. Mr. G made this solo for a particular audience, so let me emphasize that in its sub-genre this is a brilliant pick. Yeah, you can complain that the host sometimes disappears in the flood of guest appearances, so "Back In The Hood" is more of a compilation, yet it doesn't change the fact that it's a noteworthy album.
I encourage you to visit rapper's ReverbNation page, where you can purchase the reviewed
