Jim Jones & DJ Drama - Gangsta Grillz: We Set the Trends
Has there ever been a bad Gangsta Grillz tape? These mixtapes are such important contributions to the culture but lately, these more modern ones have just improved in terms of quality. Still relatively fresh off his contributions to Tyler’s project, Drama takes it back to that raw rap shit by utilizing Jim Jones once more for another one of them ones. Jimmy has been on a killing spree since the release of his magnum opus “El Capo”, ever since then, his output has done nothing but impress me. It’s crazy how I never really considered him a lyricist like that but it’s simply cause I wasn’t aware, I wasn’t doing my due diligence til he forced me to & I haven’t regretted it one bit.
Jimmy is rhyming at his most elite throughout this tape, feeding off the energy of all the young gunners he’s showcasing on here, even adapting to their own respective sounds with such grace. You’ll agree once you hear him on these drill beats like “Crunk Muzik”, sit back Lil Jon, the new Crunk is being ushered in. His ear for production as well is at its absolute hardest, from the smooth opener, which acts as the perfect bed for him to lay his conversational flow over to the modern trap of “Backdoe”, there’s not a style that Jimmy don’t slide into effortlessly. Not only that, but Jones is on his straight gutter shit as he’s walking us through these gritty street tales of his.
What’s so good about this tape is how refreshing Jones sounds, he sounds so comfortably in his element proving that he’s more than capable of keeping up with the young guns. I’d say we’ll be hearing a lot of these young brothers a whole lot more after our exposure to some of these unfamiliar names, who all knew to bring their a game around an OG like Jones. But I love that, while Jones is killing it, he’s giving all these cats an opportunity to shine & not overshadowing them by a damn sight, no matter how good he’s rhyming, their performances keep right up with him. A definite treat for any fans of that, raw, pure Hip Hop.