American Badass - Supreeme

If you haven't heard of the rap group Supreeme yet, you soon will. Trust me. Good music can't stay underground forever (Next year, major label debut on Warner Bros).

They are in the process of releasing their first mixtape, American Badass, and if you've been listening to them for a while now, you can see the progress. Lyrically, and in terms of the production, these boys are definitely making strides in the right direction.

"American Badass" is a 21 tracks mixtape, and like many mixtapes, there is a recurring theme or clip from song to song. Throughout the mixtape, various clips from the infamous "Unforgivable" YouTube series comes out of nowhere. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then I feel sorry for you, but if you do, know it's hysterical. The intro will literally make you die, it's so funny. As someone who does a pretty horrible impression of it, but does it nonetheless, I could listen to it for hours. And I have.

There is also an American recurring theme in many of the songs, hense the title "American Badass". From Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A." to the National Anthem, the patriotism is quite salient.

The mixtape as a whole flows well from track to track and overall is a solid piece of work, but there are definitely some standout tracks. The standout song is "Feel the Bass" and for so many reasons. From the fact that it bumps very hard to both King Self and Mr. Armada's on-point verses, it's a great track. Because of its very minimalistic beat, it really accentuates the verses.

Another song, "Rockin Out" featuring Killer T instantly grabbed my ear, because the beat reminded me of home. The Atlanta influence on Supreeme comes out in this song. People from Atlanta can't go too long without talking about Atlanta, and they do in this song. The beat in "Rockin Out" also remindes me of Timbaland's beat from "Dirt Off Your Shoulders", you know, with all the spaceship and lazertag noises. Supreeme brought their A game on this one.

Take away the beats, the production, and all the bells and whistles of the mixtape, and the one thing that remains constant about Supreeme through the years is that they are great story-tellers. You know, Outkast/Slick Rick type story-tellers. Both King Self and Negashi's flows feels more conversational and less like they are barking at the public. And they paint pictures with every song. "Supreeme Anthem" is a great example of this.

These boys are just mad creative. King Self and Negashi are flowing better than ever and Tom Cruz is sampling and making rediculous beats with reckless abandon. From the issues brought up in the songs to the samples used (Beach Boys' "I Get Around" to Tay Zonday's YouTube sensation "Chocolate Rain"), you never know what they are gonna come up with next.

Support these boys and definitely listen to "American Badass" in its entirety. They absolutely exceeded my high expectations I had for them. They do not dissapoint.

The South is proud of y'all.

Mixtape:

http://www.supreeme.com/mixtape/

Myspace Page:

http://www.myspace.com/supreemesupreeme