Too Broke To Rap
Finicky Ass Rome
Hip-Hop
Right off the back you're going to notice something about this mixtape. It's like an old school mixtape. No I don't mean it's from the 90s. But over time the mixtape has evolved. In the past artist would simply spit on instrumentals that other artist had made famous. This wasn't done to disrespect another artist. This was a simply a way of saying "Watch your ass, I'm just as good and coming up." Chamillionaire is one artist who created a name for himself by doing this with his Mixtape Messiah series. However today artist will release a full mixtape with all original instrumentals. While this is nice, it's really nice it doesn't really give you a status quo to compare to. Right from the start Rome has not problem spitting over classic tracks like 25 Lighters and Public Service Announcement.
Right off the back you're going to notice something about this mixtape. It's like an old school mixtape. No I don't mean it's from the 90s. But over time the mixtape has evolved. In the past artist would simply spit on instrumentals that other artist had made famous. This wasn't done to disrespect another artist. This was a simply a way of saying "Watch your ass, I'm just as good and coming up." Chamillionaire is one artist who created a name for himself by doing this with his Mixtape Messiah series. However today artist will release a full mixtape with all original instrumentals. While this is nice, it's really nice it doesn't really give you a status quo to compare to. Right from the start Rome has not problem spitting over classic tracks like 25 Lighters and Public Service Announcement. Some parts of the mixtape can be repetitive. Rome tells us plenty of times that he's "too broke to rap," that's a lie but he keeps telling us. The other weak point is the one that almost all mixtapes of this style have. We just don't know how good he is at picking out instrumentals. But that's not really a major issue.
I've been following Rome for a while on twitter. I didn't even know he was a rapper until a few days ago. I assumed he was just a funny guy so to have him drop a mixtape on my time line one day was pretty random. But still pretty cool. I said Rome was funny and that definitely shows in his lyrics. Rome isn't trying to be the next Scarface, he's just being Rome and it works for him.
Hopefully Rome doesn't challenge me to another fight when I say this. He reminds me of Juicy J. Not lyrically or flow wise, just Juicy J. Rome and Juicy J are similar in the fact they aren't attempting to say anything groundbreaking and they aren't trying to force out super deep lyrics in the middle of tracks. They're simply two guys who can rap their asses off and give you the feeling that they really enjoy recording. That fun seeps through and it's something fun to listen to.
The theme this mixtape is a funny guy with lyrics like "roll past a prostitute" and "Bitch better get some water, don de esta la agua, Maury say I'm not the father." Don't sleep on him, he can hit you with some good stuff at random. But most of it's funny like balling in a Hyundai.
Although this his first project a lot of up and coming artist can learn a valuable lesson from Rome. Paying for studio time can add up over time. BUT, the audio quality of the product is so much higher than it would be recording at home. There won't be any muffled effects on your vocals and everything will play evenly throughout the project. No one track will be twice as loud. Spending that extra money will also show people that you're serious.
Overall I'm going to give the album 7.5/10 which is pretty good for a first project. But again Rome actually sounds like he's having fun which makes you have fun and that really is rare. He also pays homage not just to the greats from Texas but greats from hip hop period. Rome also does something that most don't pick up on right away. Rome knows he strengths and he plays to them well. It's not a long mixtape, it's free and it'll make you laugh. There's no reason that you shouldn't download.
You can check out Rome and I both on Twitter below and there's another download link.
Follow @FinickyAssRome
Follow @OriginalKingD
