As far as the content on the album goes... it's pretty okay? The first track of the mixtape, "Intro", is so extremely unfitting. It sounds like the start of a Disney movie, even though the rest of the album has a darker, more grungy theme. Somehow, it leads to the next song, "Caliber", very well. It is in this song that Desiigner starts his theme of repetitive drill rap. To be honest, the majority of the album sounds like it's one song, and that's really hard to say if that's a good thing or not. They all merge well; maybe too well.
Everyone knows Desiigner's most popular song, Panda. It's notable how he makes that "get" and "brrraaa" sound, and similar sounds in the background. It's slightly disappointing that he has no new versions of these "signature" sounds. However, it is really interesting to me how he has completely different voices depending on the song. It's actually really amazing and unique; his voice has a completely different timbre and pitch; in addition, he's easier to understand in some of his voices than others. If you compare his voice in three consecutive songs, "Caliber","Make It Out", and "Shooters", it sounds like 3 completely different rappers.
The interludes actually grow on you after a few listens. There are two of these interludes, which are actually soft, gentle music, which provide a nice break and contrast from the aggressive, violent drill rap that fills the rest of the mixtape. In addition, they merge very nicely to the next song on the track; the transition from "interlude 1" to "Talk Regardless" is almost flawless.
Time to address the elephant in the room; Is he a Future rip-off? It's a really hard question to completely answer, but after listening to the mixtape, I'd say that the answer is a hesitant no. Even though he does sound kind of similar to Future in a few songs like "Talk Regardless", "Panda", and "Roll Wit Me", the majority of Desiigner's "voices" sound nothing like Future in style or delivery. In fact, I'd say that he's better than future. He has better delivery, more energy, and he's more understandable, even though it's still hard to decrypt about half of the songs.
One of the most notable tracks is the 7 minute long "Da Day". There's actually an uncredited feature from Mekado on this song, and his calm style of rapping compared to Desiigner's aggressive drilling is quite captivating. The lyrics in this song are far more emotional and raw than the rest of the mixtape, and the big beat-switch in the middle helps this huge attempt to capture the natural essence of "the streets".
The next song, "Jet", is pretty mediocre, and Pusha T's verse was pretty lackluster. Sure, the two have potential together, but it's not quite as good as "Da Day". This trend of lackluster songs continues with "Overnight", and in fact, most of the tracks on the mixtape are pretty mediocre, but their merging makes them somehow enjoyable; however, "Overnight" and "Jet" don't have that continuity. "Zombie Walk" is the second last song, and it's not actually that bad, but it's definitely not a top quality rap song.
And then... there's Panda. This song, in my opinion, deserves the fame that it got. The production is immaculate, Desiigner's flow is great, and the lyrics are... for the most part, impossible to understandable, but it's not the lyrics that matter in this case. It's the delivery.
Overall, Desiigner has potential, but this mixtape doesn't do him much justice. I could totally see him as being one of the split-personality rappers with his different voices in the future, but for now, he may still be labeled as just a Future rip-off.
Final Verdict:
42/100
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