This mixtape was dope. The mixtape meshed well throughout. You could bump it in its entirely. The mixtape was released just before 2004’s Amerikaz Nightmare. Back then, it wasn’t uncommon to released a mixtape just before an album, i.e. 50 Cent’s “Before The Massacre” mixtape, as an appetizer for the album.
Plus, it allowed the artist(s) a chance to give the listeners a sneak peek of what to expect on the album by adding some album cuts on the mixtape.
Therefore, the Mobb put the album’s lead single, “Got It Twisted, and the grimy “When You Hear That,” both produced by Alchemist, as a glimpse of what was coming with Amerikaz Nightmare.
Also included was the collaboration with 50, “Clap Those Things,” that previously appeared on G-Unit Radio Part 4. 50’s verse was cool, very vintage 50.
Most of the mixtape’s beats were dope. “There That Go” and “Let Nothing Die” are gritty. The former is produced by Alchemist and is that typical, street, tough sound he’s been providing the Mobb for years. I have no idea who produced the latter.
“Somebody Be Dead” contains a minimalistic beat, that at first sounds foreign for a Mobb record but ends up blending well with their street raps.
“I’ll Make You Famous” sounds like a subliminal diss record. I wonder who the intended recipient was supposed to be.
The collaboration with Snoop Dogg was sort-of out of left field but “Runnin’ For Cover” ended up being one of the mixtape’s highlights. At first, you’d think their different styles wouldn’t complement one another but fortunately, it did. The smooth beat’s chill and funky sound helped. It was perfect for Havoc and Prodigy to join Snoop in rhymes about females. The beat fits Snoop’s style to the tee, so it was dope that Hav and P jumped on it, albeit different than their norm.
Also, “Heat” contains a smooth and chill beat, far from that hard and gritty that Mobb’s been known for.
Meanwhile, Prodigy and Havoc do what you do on mixtapes: jump on other rappers’ beats. They rhymed over The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Going Back To Cali,” with the assistance of The Game, and also over Twista’s “Art & Life” beat, which is underrated.
A new Nas track, “Star Wars,” from that year’s re-mastered version of 1994’s Illmatic was included. Plus, you can hear Whoo Kid teasing a Nas mixtape. This was a year before Whoo Kid’s boss would take shots at Nas on his sophomore album.
the dope chronicles 