I'm diggin' A-Smooth's moniker..."The New Youngest In Charge". Thing is he has the skills to back it up which is always a good thing if you're going to put it out there like that. Class is def in session if you're talking mixtape skills...track list wise...not so much. Mixtapes with 80s and 90s hip hop are a dime a dozen and make it that much harder to stand out.

The skills keep you listening tho. I mean do I want to hear "Big Poppa" and "10 Crack Commandments"...not really but with A-Smooth cutting it up...it's cool. He dropped a rare jewel or two in between the classics; Tried By 12s "East Flatbush Project" for one. The rest of the tracks I don't have to highlight because you all should know them. My favorite part of the project was from "Get At Me Dog" thru "Real Love"...A-Smooth kept it moving with the best of them. I'm also not ashamed to say it was good to hear "Jump" by Kris Kross. I never wore my clothes backwards and might have beat up a few kids that did do that shit but the song is crazy any way you slice it.

One thing that stands out about A-Smooth to me is the fact he was echoing out of tracks on some transitions...a lost mixtape art really. Cats don't do it like that anymore and it was refreshing to hear. I also like the fact you get the two-turntable vibe of A-Smooth just going in with a stack of records...also a lost art...even if he was using Serato or whatever. It still sounds like A-Smooth is trying to find his niche in the mixtape game tho. There's a lot of good new music out there and that balance between old and new is somewhere in the middle...keep at it homie. (4/15/08)