Sunday General Discussion - December 16th, 2018 - HipHop

Mozzy is a California rapper/artist based in Sacramento, California. While at face value, his music looks to be not much more than run-of-the-mill gang talk with cover art straight out of 2011, there is much more than meets the eye with the Oak Park MC. Mozzy has been rapping for 14 years, with under a quarter of those done under the "Mozzy" moniker. Part of his defining qualities is that Mozzy is able to create lots of music -- since 2015, he's released 5 or more projects yearly, some being EPs and some being collaborative efforts with other artists on the Mozzy Records label. Many of his full-length projects have immense underground acclaim from listeners, with Gangland Landlord being his biggest release to date with the most commercial promotion/production thus far.

Album Review

Gangland Landlord is the 20th solo project by Mozzy (and 3rd commercial studio album), released under the Empire label under the Mozzy Records imprint on October 4th, 2018. At 18 tracks in length, it's one of Mozzy's more lengthy ventures, but does a phenomenal job of keeping things fresh throughout the near-hour runtime by diversifying features, topic matter and production style. But in a day and age where most artists are capable of doing this, Mozzy sets himself apart with an x-factor not many other artists can emulate: during any given lyric on any given song, Mozzy is 1,000% believable in what he says. There's no doubt in anyone's mind he believes what he spits about, nor that he's lying about the experiences he details in his music. Through and through, Mozzy's content is a 1:1 representation of him, and having that trick up his sleeve is what consistently sets him apart from the competition.

As is the trend with any album, the immediate tone for the album is set by the intro: on this album, that's No Way, a short two-minute track with Mozzy speaking on the general rise to fame he's had in the past year, but not without showing the vulnerability he's always been capable of showing. That vulnerability bookended by bravado is a trademark: the ability to show off the fact that while Mozzy is surrounded by gang members, constantly posted up on Instagram Live in the heart of the projects, he isn't 100% macho man. He's capable of fear too; but he's also capable of confronting it. However, the vulnerability doesn't last long -- the next track is One of Mines, a near polar opposite of the intro track, and it's full of the braggadocio Mozzy has made a name for himself with. Just off the heels of peeling back the layers of a gangster is one of those tracks that highlights what the fans fell for in the first place: a June-produced bar-heavy track just going down the checklist of what sets Mozzy apart when he goes the easy route. Bass notes accentuating every bar, Mozzy uses two verses to show the audience why the Gangland Landlord is an indisputable title he holds.

"We them niggas, who can argue with that?

You takin' field trips with rats like you ain't smarter than that

Parked the load down the street and we just jogged to the trap

Damn near fainted, seen a hundred large fall in my lap"

I also wanna explain that One of Mines is produced by June, who also produced a track on 1 Up Top Ahk called Momma We Made It that uses the same bass track in the background. The difference here is that on 1 Up Top Ahk, it was a story of triumph that the beat gave a soundtrack to. On One of Mines, it manifests itself as much grittier and much more hard-hitting. While it's not necessarily something to review, it's a cool tidbit to know about.

This track leads into one of the album's singles, Not Impressive; another trademark bar-fest, this time prefaced by Mozzy telling the original fans that this is what they've been looking for. That throwback Mozzy, that Goonbody Embodiment. Yellow Tape Activities. Gangland Landscape. That "Dopefiend Tryna Get His Corsica Back" Mozzy. After multiple standout albums like Fake Famous & 1 Up Top Ahk that some felt alienated his core clientele, he dropped Not Impressive to assure the fans he never forgot his roots, and the proof is in the pack. No hook, just 2 minutes with no pause of him going on and on about that gang talk shit he's so good at. After this comes Thugz Mansion, a Tupac tribute to the song under the same name with a lot of striking similarities: namely the parallel of Ty Dolla $ign's new verse to the original by J. Phoenix and the ideology of a heaven for thugs shining through. Mozzy's strength that I referred to before is authenticity: the ability to convince the listener he's committed to his craft and what he speaks about. He's got another, though: and it's the ability to not exchange that authenticity for sound quality -- which shows on this track, because this track sounds fucking great. In all honesty, it's one of my favorite Mozzy tracks to show people because it's so easy to digest, and doesn't cut corners on any of the quintessential traits that Mozzy shows off.

Dead Homies (with E Mozzy) is the first sign of his usual roster making an appearance. On prior projects, they're flush with features that aren't necessarily popular rappers, but more-so more believable rappers who stay around Mozzy. This includes E Mozzy, Celly Ru, Lex Aura, Dcmbr, Rayven Justice, June and Kunta. Dead Homies is catchy, but doesn't stand up to some of the deeper cuts on this album. Which isn't to say it's a bad song, but more-so that it's just a good song on an album of great ones.

Bands on Me (with Blac Youngsta, a Boogie wit da Hoodie & TeeJay3k) hosts my favorite Blac Youngsta verse ever, as well as a standout hook from TeeJay3k and a literal two-bar feature outro by a Boogie wit da Hoodie. What I personally found odd about this song is that TeeJay3k does the hook, but he's easily mistakable for a Boogie wit da Hoodie, and they would have achieved the same thing doing the hook (and probably the same thing doing the outro, except for the fact a Boogie mentions his ruger by name, which is sort of his thing at this point).

There's quite the shift in tone to the next song, Keep Me Hustlin', featuring Rexx Life Raj. A west coast mainstay slowly growing in popularity, Rexx Life Raj nearly renegades Mozzy off of the track in the outro with a 45-second verse that subdues the beat and speaks on the conditions of being immersed in the streets to support your family -- a topic that Mozzy and his contemporaries highlight a lot on this album. If there's any deep cut on this album that you should focus on, it's this one. No producer tag, no beat trying to outshine the lyricism; it's just a tale of a man who figured it all out a different way for the betterment of his family.

My mama pray I keep the sin away

Can't say I believe in prayer, but she be prayin' anyway

Why the system set up to put my niggas away?

When every risk we take is just to put it on the dinner plate

And feed the fam, we're in a famine

--Rexx Life Raj on Keep Me Hustlin

Walk With a Limp (with YFN Lucci) is one of those songs that sounds like a long stretch of freeway overlooking a body of water, where the sun's down just enough that the streetlights shining onto your dashboard every 7 seconds actually show up to you. It's one of those songs that, no matter how good of a driver you are, will probably have you accelerate up to 5 above the speed limit and get caught up by some highway patrol officer with a radar gun. It's then that you realize you don't have the money Mozzy talks about having, and you're brought back down to reality. In other words, this song's a super easy song to get a ticket to, because it's super easy to listen to and simultaneously super easy to immerse yourself in. Don't read too deep into it. The money makes him walk with a limp, because there is a lot of it.

One of the only songs I can never be sure of the quality of, no matter how many listens I have (last.fm claims I had 28 listens within the first 5 days of the album releasing) is Run It Up, (with ScHoolboy Q and Caine) Not because it's a bad song, but it doesn't feel like it fits on the album because Mozzy usually commands the track and shows he's the center of attention on it. On this, he only has one verse, the hook plays 3 times, and ScHoolboy Q has a phoned-in feature.

My Brudda 2X (with Celly Ru and Trae tha Truth) is a track that, while it works great on Gangland Landlord, feels almost too gritty for the album just by virtue of the features: Celly Ru is a mainstay artist on Mozzy Records, and Trae tha Truth actually has a full collaboration album with Mozzy titled Tapped In that I implore you to listen to.

Black Hearted, Walk Up, Excuse Me (with Too Short, Yhung T.O and Dcmbr) and Famous (with Iamsu!, Yo Gotti and DeJ Loaf) make up a quartet of songs that wind down the album before the last four tracks. Black Hearted is an ode to the dead homies that gives everyone a feeling they can relate to: wanting to do anything to be able to bring someone back, knowing they won't answer the phone. Walk Up is a minimal take on the usual topic matter, and actually ended up being one of Jay-Z's 20 favorite tracks of 2018, probably because it's one of the best tracks on this album. Real talk over a beat that sounds like a smoked-out living room session. Excuse Me is a slow, R&B-infused jam that has an entire verse about Too Short getting a check by using his girlfriend to get money out of another guy, and Yhung T.O's first solo verse after announcing SOB x RBE's breakup. T.O actually proves he can probably sustain himself as a solo artist, and Dcmbr caps the track off with a great hook backed by some impressive synths over drums. Famous, the last of the four, actually falls flat as my least favorite track on the album, a definitive skip even with the great Mozzy verses. There's a lot of guest appearances on this album, this is one of the songs that overdoes it. Without the features, this song is awesome.

Who Want Problems is what circles us back to the solo Mozzy we saw on One of Mines and Not Impressive on the beginning of the album, and it's a breath of fresh air after all the new voices you hear on the prior two tracks (and rest of the album, to be honest). Shooters, shooters, shooters, real shottas. Hook by Mozzy, verses by Mozzy, beat by Jay P Bangz. A cornerstone of the album (and it has a great music video, too!)

Choke On Me follows the minimalist production path by Khaliel, and follows up on Who Want Problems with stories of the come-up and the need to adapt to fame now that his name's ringing bells. It's a great way to wind down into the next track, Run to the Mansion. Run to the Mansion is my personal favorite track on the album (in constant competition with One of Mines) because it's like the after-party. It's complex production that crashes down on itself, it's Mozzy talking his shit per usual: there's not much I can say about this track that it can't say itself and if you heard it, you'd likely agree, unless you're the police.

To cap things off, Mozzy & Rayven Justice team up for Tear Us Down, the deepest cut on the album so far, that wastes no time and gets straight to the message. There's no glory in the gang talk, there's no hyping up a headshot. It's the final track and it's the most vulnerable you see Mozzy on this entire record, a record packed cover to cover with bragging about the bodies and serving packs to zombies. To be honest, when writing this, I thought about just posting this entire track's lyrics as the Favorite Lyrics section right below, because while it isn't my favorite song, it's the best I've ever seen Mozzy with his lyricism. There's no complex double entendres, there's no Lupe Fiasco-level punchlines. It's all about the system against Mozzy, which is what the heart of the music he makes is at the end of the day.

Gangland Landlord finds itself long-winded at the end to some, and a lot of people tend to stray away from Mozzy's discography because to most, he feels one-note and unable to diversify. This album is nearly an hour long, but it attacks that criticism of being a one-trick-pony by intently attacking all the sounds he can in his lane without sacrificing quality, and that's why I firmly believe this is album of the year. Sure, the same detractors who think he can't go away from the gang talk flock in troves to attack this album for having filler, but you can't please everyone. He knows that.

Favorite Lyrics

Gangland Landlord is what I solemnly bleed

You need a body barbecued, then you should lock in with me

Drop him for cheap, my ahki got a jumper on fleek

You front on these beats, knowin' you ain't cut from these streets

-- One of Mines

Missin' Jabada, still in the clanker for sellin' strippers

Circumstantial evidence, they convicted the wrong nigga

Guess who fuckin' his wifey, his own nigga

Went from uncle to step-daddy, now that's a cold nigga

-- Not Impressive

Aye, we sincerely devoted if you ain't notice

Fifty ball shoved in the denim, them bitches bloated

You got respect for the struggle if you've been homeless

Now I'm in the foreign, it's factory clear-coated

Aye, where the mansion for thugs? I'm tryna slither

Gotta be a fella to enter, just real niggas

-- Thugz Mansion

Look around, things different, Ma, we peachy now

We eatin' now, this that shit I used to dream about

We on this baggage claim tour, you can keep the clout

When you rise above the madness, pull your people out

Too many claim to be the plug for it to be a drought

Family come before the fetti, ain't no keeping count

-- Keep Me Hustlin

They'd rather break us than build us up in this broken system

We ain't no different if we ridin' 'round smokin' niggas

-- Tear Me Down (Outro)

Talking Points

Do you feel as though Mozzy went too-industry-friendly for this album?
What do you think is the next logical step (musically) for Mozzy?
Did you enjoy 1 Up Top Ahk or Gangland Landlord more? Why?
Does Mozzy use Chris Brown clones?
Is it beneficial or detrimental to Mozzy's sound if he utilizes more industry-heavy rappers (ScHoolboy Q, YG, Ty Dolla $ign) over his usual feature cast (Celly Ru, E Mozzy, Lex Aura)

Thanks for reading this, if you made it this far. I don't expect many people (or any at all) to read through this thing in its entirety. R.I.P. to /u/aacarbone, one of the people who put me onto Mozzy's entire discography.

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Ski Mask The Slump God performs NUKETOWN to an incredibly passionate crowd at XXXTENTACION's album release party

Posted: 16 Dec 2018 09:43 AM PST

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Kendrick Lamar Brings Out J. Cole to Perform For DAMN Tour in Detroit, MI

Posted: 16 Dec 2018 01:16 PM PST

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[DISCUSSION] Soulja Boy Tell 'Em - iSouljaBoyTellem (10 Years Later)

Posted: 16 Dec 2018 10:29 AM PST

It's been 10 years since this was released.

What were your favorite tracks?

Do you think it still holds up today?

How does it compare to the rest of Soulja Boy's discography?

On a scale of 10 out of 10, how influential is this album to the current landscape of hip-hop?

Do you still remember the phone number from Kiss Me Thru The Phone?

Was Gucci Bandana the blueprint for Kendrick Lamar's HUMBLE?

Will Soulja Boy ever have the rap game in a chokehold again?

Have you pre-ordered your Soulja Boy game console yet?

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Mac, remembered by manager, Christian Clancy

Posted: 16 Dec 2018 02:02 PM PST

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Had a convo with XXXTENTACION's Producer, John Cunningham about SKINS

Posted: 16 Dec 2018 10:55 AM PST

According to him, it was finished except for 1 or 2 things before X passed, He said there was a strong possibility that X may have recorded more songs for it, had he not died. He said they did not piece together old recordings and the claims of it being a moneygrab are false including woah (mind in awe) which was completed, was actually one of X's favorites off the album. I hope this clears things up for this sub.

Screenshots of convo

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Vince Staples insane verse on Hive.

Posted: 16 Dec 2018 07:07 PM PST

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Travis Scott - Oh My Dis Side (feat. Quavo)

Posted: 16 Dec 2018 07:02 PM PST

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PLAYBOI CARTI X UNOTHEACTIVIST - WHAT

Posted: 16 Dec 2018 10:20 AM PST

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Every Sample from Earl Sweatshirt’s Some Rap Songs

Posted: 16 Dec 2018 01:07 PM PST

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XXXTENTACION - ILOVEITWHENTHEYRUN ft. Yung Bans and Ski Mask the Slump God

Posted: 16 Dec 2018 11:57 AM PST

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[ORIGINAL] Was spinning my Charlie Brown Christmas record and got inspired to flip a sample and add some instrumentation. My homie came through and laid down some vocals based on a quote from the movie, and this was the final product. Sorry its kinda sad, but hope you enjoy! VANGARD - XMAS ASHES

Posted: 16 Dec 2018 06:27 PM PST

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Curren$y freestyle on the Eric Andre show

Posted: 16 Dec 2018 04:58 PM PST

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Mura Masa - Love$ick ft. A$AP Rocky

Posted: 16 Dec 2018 09:00 PM PST

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Fantasy Rap Album?

Posted: 16 Dec 2018 07:30 PM PST

Fantasy football season has me thinking - if you could draft you perfect rap album, what would it be? You get a base artist, 12 tracks, and up to 8 features. You can combine more then one feature on a track. What's your line up?

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Drake - Jodeci (Freestyle) ft. J Cole

Posted: 16 Dec 2018 07:32 PM PST

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Starfire (Juice WRLD’s ex-girlfriend) opens up about their past relationship.

Posted: 16 Dec 2018 07:06 PM PST

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Gucci Mane Says Eminem Cannot Be Greatest Rapper of All-Time .... "Who listens to him daily?"

Posted: 16 Dec 2018 05:53 PM PST

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Trippie Redd- Bust Down

Posted: 16 Dec 2018 09:38 AM PST