I had a major label nut riding A&R tell me the "mixtape" was officially over, finished, and irrelevant. I told him that while it may not on the surface be what it once was I could guarantee him that by the end of year it would be him looking for a job and not the mixtape DJs. The truth hurts my friend and I feel no pain over here. With that said, if you want to see who really has now...this is your mixtape.

You no longer have to weed out the millions of MCs trying to dry hump your email's inbox or myspace page. Just subscribe to DJ Rhude's mixtape series "We Got Now" and let him do the work for you. "Banger on my lap / my seats lean back / I'm ready when beef crack"...Crooked I with that sinister sharp shit anthem. Ransom and Ya Boy was a great collaboration..."JC to the Bay"...don't Zzzzzz. Why do cats front on Stimuli? Like he can't burn a booth down. Listen to the OJ Loopz laced "We Can Make It" and tell me rhyming just sounds too easy for him...and on top of that he was actually saying some relevant shit with a message. I'm anxious to see what Drama does with Willie The Kid this year. Word on the street is he has a new mixtape bout to hit the streets but we shall see. His verse on "Dumping The Ruger" is a lesson in precise word play. Don't front, you're Zzzzz on Sic Osyrus right about now. I should give you a wedgie in front of your girl for that shit but instead you can just listen to "Ice Skatin" and wake the fuck up. Shout to Freedie Gibbs, Gary Indiana's finest MC. "In The Projects" is my shit, def loving how they flipped that Ice Cube vocal; the flow is fresh like mentos. I fuck with Esso on the MIC, "Gossip" is cool but I expect better...we'll see how E3 turns out. I'm listening to Ransom on "Yard Talk" and my face looks like I just ate a shit sandwich...dude is slick with the bars and Heat caught some shine too. Mad energy man coming off "Either Way It Goes" with Geolani, Rain and Montega. Truth be told Montega's verse had me stashing ice picks, that joint was savage like and Metro Beats laid the foundation for the whole thing. "The Drill" by Boaz is an ill song and he's a major force when it comes to "live ni99a rap". The true sleeper of the project is Reks. I'm familiar with "Killaz On Wax" but that's me and my ear stays sharp but the rest of ya'll excluding Rhude need to get that ear to the ground. If it was actually possible I would use that song as an automatic reply when MCs send me countless emails of wack music.

This is easily the best We Got Now so far. The balance of MCs from all over the place just flat out works, project itself flows well too from track one to the very end. This is where I might say something like "syringe sold separately" but in reality the syringe is included, along with a spoon, a lit candle and that little rubber thing to tie around your arm...all that's let to do is tap a vein. (3/26/08)