As a hip-hop marking exec recently said, the mixtape game is a must-do for both rappers already on and those trying to get on.
For those already on, it’s a form of branding and keeping their names in the mix and in the streets. And it’s a must that rappers grinding toward popularity put out mixtapes.
It seems simple, but to lace your rap on an already published and popular beat and stand out, you have to be quite clever, lyrically or conceptually.
Young, local rap squad THC (That Homie Clique) is working the mixtape game like old pros.
Set to drop their third mixtape, The Hottest in the Streets: Vol. 3, under the auspices of Hollingsworth Entertainment, these boys in the ‘hood n all of them: A1 (Richard Williams), Young Left (Hershel Young), Young Mase (Dwayne Belk) and JD (Aaron Rice) n can flow.
“Nobody in our group is slacking,” said A1. “We have our own style and flavor, but all four of us can rap.”
Though they mostly rap about the usual flossing, kicking it, clubbing, girl-chasing, being hard and able to handle themselves, they do it with creative flair.
“You have to be able to transfer your life into words,” said Young Left, while Young Mase interjected, “You can’t keeping rapping about the same thing. You have to be able to rap about whatever.”
That includes beef, which they say they don’t like on published recordings, but they feel it’s all-good on mixtapes. And they take it to a group called Misjudged.
A1 raps: Yeah, these (brothers) dissed us/and plus they overrated/ So I guess they misjudged.
Al jumps in with, Speaking of Mikes/ I’m the (brother) on the court that you really don’t like/ Cause on the court you were thinking you were hot/ but never thought a sixth-grade rookie could take your spot.
A1 hasn’t lost his love for basketball. He hoops for Lindbergh and homie rapper Young Left hoops for Beaumont.
A1 was one of eight STL high school hoopers nominated for McDonald’s All-American high school game. A1 averaged 17.6 points a game, scoring 369 points, 65 of which were three-pointers, placing him among area high school boys basketball leaders.
Young Left put it down for the ‘Mont. In a 62-54 loss to “the V,” Post sportswriter Kevin Boone noted Youngs’ three-pointer cap of a 9-2 Beaumont run in the fourth quarter. In the game, Young earned respect, hitting four “threes.”
Young Mase and JD, who are out of high school, say they respect their hooping rap homies’ commitment to b-ball.
“They’re good with understanding their schedule and coordinating,” said manager Teddy H.
For A1 and Young Left, it’s school, basketball, then the studio. They all admit that their motivation for rapping comes from being tired of living the ‘hood life. And while rap could be their way out, they’re also thinking of practical means n going to college, learning business or becoming engineers.
Meanwhile, they’re in the business of slanging mixtapes.