Kasey Jones - WYB ft Al Hostile

Kasey Jones is one of those rare artist in which I know nothing about but still somehow manage to capture my attention and get a post out of me. I first came across Jones on Matt McGhee's "Dark" he handled the hook on the song but I didn't think he was an rapper but just a friend of Matt or Al. Fast forward a few weeks later 3rdiiiUth's Al Hostile got me hip (which he has done a lot of recently, might have to let him be the new Drop God lol) to a collab joint he had with Kasey called "WYB (Where You Been?)".

The duo of Kasey and Al aka HostileTurtle (Kasey being the Turtle Gawd) surprised me with how well the two sounded over some ill Baze Knox production, they definitely have good track chemistry. It however was Kasey who impressed me the most seeing as I didn't even realize he rapped, to finding out he is pretty damn good at it. Al on the other hand continues his streak of excellent guest verses and slowly but surely is becoming one of my favorites from the DMV area. Mayor Whop Mike of Doom and Steezy Uglies Grizzlies make cameo appearances both drawing inspiration from Puff Daddy, with Mike providing ad-libs and Steezy talking that shit on the intro. All in all a great first impression, I'll be keeping my eye on Kasey Jones from now on and hopefully the young rapper can keep up the good work.

Sidenote: I actually just remembered in writing this that I first heard Kasey on "YAMS" from Al Hostile's The Finer Thangz. Forgive me Turtle Gawd, you'll soon realize I ain't shit...

Dark Nimbus - Represent ft Steezy Grizzlies, Mike of Doom & Jack CityZ

It's a 93rdiiiWhop affair as various members from the groups come together to "Represent" on this banger of a track. Starting off the track with his trademark energy is 93' Bandits own Steezy Grizzlies who absolutely kills his verse, followed by 3rdiiiUth's Jack CityZ and Dark Nimbus who both spit dope verses but it's the latter who stole the show for me and has my favorite verse on the track. Only thing I was disappointed in was the fact that Mike of Doom's only contribution was the chorus, this joint sounds right up his lane I can only imagine how much harder this track would've been with a Mayor verse. 

Mike of Doom - Renaissance Man

It's has been a while since I've featured the homie Mike of Doom on the site, in no part is it due to lack of effort on his behalf (that's all me). On "Renaissance Man" he swaggers over a hard hitting Inf. Zero beat all while displaying his signature bravado and that braggadocious style that he has come to be known for. Even though no release date has been announced you can expect Mayor Whop's The Campaign soon. 

Mike also stated on Twitter that "might drop some 'lyrical' shit next Mayor Monday just to fuck with your head" so be on the look out for that. Hopefully he does it, I'm interested to hear what "lyrical" Doom sounds like. Lastly, if you haven't checked out his Rookie of the Year yet do that one of my favorites from 2013. 

93' Bandits - Hunnid Fold ft Mike of Doom

The 93' Bandits make their return with "Hunnid Fold" the third single from the duo and tab the "Mayor of 30Whop" himself Mike of Doom. The inclusion of Mike was a great choice as he changes the format for the Bandits' recent singles which have just been them and he of course brings his signature energy to the track. Steezy Grizzlies and Rashad Stark both drop great verses respectively but it's the latter who turns in what just might be his best verse yet. The 93' Bandits have quickly made a name for themselves and with all eyes on them it'll be interesting to see if they'll live up to the expectations when their upcoming project Bandit Shit drops later this year.

Re-Drop: 93' Bandits - "Got Dammit" & "One Time"

Mike of Doom - Hectic

As we wrap up the year 2013, Mike of Doom drops one of the hardest records of the year in "Hectic". Props to Doom for handling the raps and production. S/O GRZD. 

[Album Review] Mike of Doom - Rookie of the Year

So often when it comes to following up great projects we see many artists try to capture what made their previous project so good. The follow up ends up becoming a poor man's version of the previous or artists try to hard to deviate from their previous work to make the follow up stand out more. Nine times out of ten that ends up failing and displeasing fans. Take Tyler, The Creator for example, a lot of Bastard/Goblin fans don't like Wolf and vise-versa. What makes Rookie of the Year so great is the fact that it isn't trying to be the The Mane and Mike didn't go away from what made him popular in the first place.

Often in my reviews I talk about how the artist was able to top their previous project and show growth. That's because their previous project was easily surpassable, however with Mike, The Mane was his signature tape. Hell it was his signature, he was literally The Mane. Yet somehow he found a way to best that tape and still retain his signature sound while also expanding it. Take "Lets Get This Paper!" which starts out as your typical Mike of Doom "The Mane" sound, loud and braggadocio, the second half however is an introspective look towards the future when he does succeed. It's similar to how Lupe flipped Kick Push. I honestly didn't think Mike was capable of something like that. 

Another thing that makes ROTY one of my favorite tapes to drop in 2013 is the production. This is probably the strongest tape I've heard all year production-wise. Credits to Mike for his ear for good production and to all the producers on the tape. Also the features on here introduced me to a handful of great artists. Cisero, Goldlink, 431 (I knew of) and Quan The Padawan all kill their respective verses, especially Goldlink who brings "Flair" to the next level with his verse. Similar to Chance The Rapper's appearance on Childish Gambino's "They Don't Like Me". 

Mike has never been the "super-lyrical-miracle" type rapper, that doesn't mean he is a slouch on the mic either. Lyrically he is strong as ever. He even impressed me with a few lines over the course of the tape. The most impressive thing about ROTY to me however is the replayability of it. Immediately after listening to it I wanted to run it back. Not too many projects over the last couple of years has had that effect on me. Much to my dismay I can't say "let's get it" without damn near reciting Mike's verse. It's already bad enough that anytime I hear Brad Pitt's name I instantly think of the classic track from The Mane. 

In my personal opinion this is by far one of the most cohesive tapes of the last couple of years. There was only one or two tracks I wasn't feeling but other than that I have nothing negative to say. If you were a Mike of Doom fan before Rookie of the Year, you'll still be one and if you weren't...welcome to the club.

Standout Tracks: Coolington, Lets Get This Paper!, Flair, Zooted, Your All Welcome

FINAL VERDICT

+ Excellent production

+ High replayability

+ Nice features

+ Cohesive sound

+ Excellent features

- One or two lacking tracks

9.5/10

[Video] Mike of Doom - Yerp

Directed by Helena Banks of Kreative Khaos 

Mike of Doom is back with yet another excellent video, this time for "Yerp" from his project The Mane. Mike is one of the few indie artists whose visuals match the quality of the music and be sure to look for his upcoming project Rookie of the Year to drop sometime soon, until then check out his latest EP Isn't It Ironic?.

Mike of Doom - Brad Pitt

Mike of Doom dropped his solo debut The Mane a couple days ago and featured on the tape is the groovy "Brad Pitt", the production on this is godly. It's definitely one of my personal favorites from Mike and be sure to download The Mane too.

[Mixtape] Mike of Doom - The Mane

Months after dropping his last project Of Doom..., Mike of Doom is back with his first solo tape appropriately titled The Mane. More so on this project than the last, we get a taste for Mike's skills as a rapper and he doesn't disappoint. As with his last project, The Mane is strong production-wise mostly due to Jaylen!, Rapper the Producer, Lance Neptune, Plue Starfox and Doom himself. Features include Cal Rips, rMell, fellow OSP members and more. Doom has successfully created a sound unique to his own, somewhere in between Trap and Trip-Hop. Nothing else to say, other than download and enjoy. Trust me you won't be disappointed. 

Mike of Doom - Yerp

Mike of Doom released "Yerp" the first official single form his upcoming trap tape The Mane. The best way to describe this joint would be with Doom's own words "Combination Q-Tip and Pimp C. Conscious mind, til I mix that loud pack with that Hennessy" or with another creation of Doom's Progressive Trap. Either way it's dope. Expect The Mane to drop on August 31st. YAHH!

Mike of Doom - Blues ft SIR E.U THE GREAT & 431

Mike of Doom dropped this groovy joint yesterday featuring two of the DMV's best spitters 431 & SIR E.U. Look for Mike to release a mixtape and his album Dreamium Supremium later this year.

Album Review: Mike of Doom - Of Doom...

Download: Of Doom...

So I said I would review this about two days ago, as did the homie Dave. However, today I decided to overcome my loafage and get to work on this review. Now on to the project itself. Of Doom... is a collection of work by DMV producer/rapper Mike of Doom and showcases his talents as an artist. Mike handles all the production on the tape, and even spits on some of the tracks. The project is 24 tracks deep and I normally don't like when artist have more than 15 tracks on their projects, but the variety of the tape prevents you from losing interest.