Dave East’s career is arguably at the most crucial, but undeniably lit crossroads that it could possibly be for him in the year of 2018 going forward. In between a year with each counting yesterday, since August 2017 specifically, Dave East has dropped three quality projects that add to the strength of his discography post-signing with Def Jam. I did my review on P2 at the beginning of this year (time flies doesn’t it), and Dave East does not miss half a step again, displaying every aspect of what made the late 2000s/early 2010s mixtape era so phenomenal. This past Friday, July 27th, 2018, he presents to us the Karma 2 mixtape.
Every element of the Rap genre and multiple areas of Hip Hop Culture are incredibly alive within Dave East. He is easily one of the New Skool Era’s greatest rappers and top-tier lyricists, period. Despite commentary on his rapping voice with facetious comments of how he sounds like an angry J.Cole, Dave East can indubitably rap his ass off on any track he chooses to do so, reminiscent to close to all of the gritty lyricism and content of his NY predecessors, with a dual OG/Trap flair. East is also an exceptional rap storyteller, which is probably why legendary rapper Nas took him under his wing until present day as East is flying to the beginning stages of mainstream acclaim by himself as he should be.
East, with this mixtape Karma 2, also evolves his style as to not be mundane, putting on lesser known rappers, teaming up with veteran NY rapper Fabolous, collaborating with up and coming mainstream Southern rappers BlocBoy JB and Gunna, and even having his whole mixtape hosted by DJ Holiday (some pretty iconic shit in 2014 just as much as Childish Gambino’s DJ Drama-sponsored STN MTN in 2014).
The mixtape has excellent stand out tracks. “NOBU” was the perfect lyrical opening banger, “My N***a Dead” displayed his storytelling superiority amongst his peers, “Levelin’ Up” was fantastically quaint with instrumental and motivating lyrical quality for the modern hustler, and “This Summer” delivered a great bar back and forth in the style of East’s “Bad Boy on Death Row” track with The Game. “Day Dreaming” might be one of the most candidly spit simp anthems that does it’s best not to be corny and still bangs.
Throughout each and every track of the mixtape, one can see that East took his time in crafting a genuine mixtape that satisfied the 2000s canonical and modern version qualifications of a mixtape: quality raw ass raps from the trenches, dexterous bar structure, interludes, nationally acclaimed features, a length not limited to the typical lengths of the modern album, varied flows, storytelling, certified bangers that make you want to slam the repeat button to make sure you heard it right, and a classic Hip Hop DJ hosting the mixtape with proper hype. Stream below and download on Datpiff, SoundCloud and other streaming platforms like its middle school/early high school all over again.
You might also like
More from Mixtapes
King Tony Keeps the Momentum Going With “Young Rich Gangsta”
Each and every year, Baltimore rapper King Tony has taken his game to another level. He enjoyed the best year …
Baltimore City’s Rahkai and Tay Shakir Give Light to the City with ‘WELCOME TO KHAOS’ Collaboration EP
WELCOME TO KHAOS EP is a 2018 collaboration project by Baltimore rapper Rahkai and Baltimore producer Tay Shakir that highlights …
Dashcito Releases ‘ForYouByMe’
Dashcito has been on our radar since he released "Slick" last year. Now the rapper has given us his largest …
