Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Mixtape Review: Pac Div - Don't Mention it Mixtape

Alright it's time to start legitimately talking about Pac Div is one of the best Hip Hop groups in the game. In case you missed their first Mixtape, Church League Champions do yourself a favor and click that link and read my review on it. The quality of their past Church League mixtape combined with their close affiliation to my favorite Hip Hop group, The Cool Kids .

If you're familiar with any of The Cool Kids material, you can see why I'd be so fond of Pac Div. There's a reason why they're called the "West Coast Cool Kids", with their sound mirroring Mikey Rocks and Chuck Inglish's style with the same measured, deliberate flow and lead heavy bass. If you don't know what I'm talking about, give The Cool Kids track Knocked Down a listen and compare it to the two songs below Waves at the Prom and Birds.

Both these tracks below go H-A-R-Mothafuckin'-D in the trunk, make no mistake you will piss people off by listening to this loudly if you what you have installed is > factory. Took me one listen of Waves at the Prom to decide it was my favorite track of the Mixtape. The slow, steady bassline is hypnotic and mixes smoother than a Belvedere and Tonic with the laid back verses by Gabe "Like" Stevenson, Mike "Mibbs" Stevenson and Bryan "BeYoung" Young. Yea the beat and samples are dumbed down and simple, but there's somethin' about it stylistically that is throwback and fresh at the same time. They may not be talkin' about all that much lyrically, storytelling about a prom experience, but those background WHOO!'s (especially at the 41 sec mark) solidify the rock hard sound of the track. Give it a listen...volume clockwise...don't half step...

Pac Div - Waves at the Prom Mixtape Favorite!!!


Second favorite track features an artist I'm trying to pick up more material, Pill. Sidebar: I did a google search for Pill and his myspace was listed in the top 5, that's pretty crazy considering all the pill searches that are probably made each day. Anyways, this one is more in your face with the rawkusness of the beat and in your face, lowered voice sample. More or less this calls out all ladies that are "run through more than finish lines"...catch my drift? No holds barred here with the chirping all over the track to go with the deck beatin' 808 bass. Ladies...if you get called a bird...not a good thing #justsayin'. Check it...

Pac Div feat Pill - Birds Goes HARD!!!


This Mixtape makes me think of a recent Drake interview where he explained how important Mixtapes are in Hip Hop right now and how you can't just stash your throwaway album tracks on mixtapes anymore. They can potentially make a career (Drake) and as a result artist are putting a lot more into these tapes because they can sell just the same on iTunes and gain respect just as easily since they are circulated as much as full scale studio albums are. See below...



My third favorite track shows a much different sound from Pac Div, giving more of less intense, relaxed, jazzy/R&B feel to the track. Had to post one that gave some contrast to all the other bangers that sound like Cool Kids tracks. Press...play...

Pac Div feat Ty$ - Rollin' Smooth Track!!!


Overall, this is a great mixtape, with at least six tracks out of 12 that I consistently listen to right now. Along with the three tracks above, I'd also check out Shine, Brocoli and the track with Dom Kennedy titled Don't Forget the Swishers. Do yourself a favor and download the whole Mixtape and show these three cats from the left coast some love...

Click Here to Download the whole Don't Mention It Mixtape - Credit 2dopeboyz

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