Only a handful of artists release as much content as Curren$y does. Some can match the quantity, but none can top the quality. Spitta Andretti is known for releasing album-quality mixtapes at a constant rate, giving fans all they can digest. 2013’s New Jet City was one of the hottest mixtapes of the year, and his latest offering The Drive In Theatre doesn’t disappoint either. The mixtape is light, jazzy, and certainly doesn’t sound like anything else out right now.
The Drive In Theatre is the perfect portrait of Spitta’s southern background. The New Orleans influence is obvious as saxophones and other jazz instruments can be heard in nearly every song, making it possibly one of Spitta's most-jazzy mixtapes yet. The rhymes match accordingly, too. Curren$y raps about riding around in his candy paint El Camino, smoking Ls and bumping tunes. He doesn’t just talk about it, he is 'bout it 'bout it.
There isn’t a clear change of pace on the mixtape, but that isn’t a bad thing. Each track glides naturally into the next, with none sounding out of place. Like most Curren$y projects, The Drive In Theatre has an extremely mellow vibe, and there's nothing to make you want to 'turn up' here. His lazy flow over the jazz-inspired production makes for a real refreshing sound, especially in comparison to the amounts of trap and drill-inspired music we've been hearing in recent times.
Some of the beats on The Drive In Theatre are quite cinematic, including production on “10 Gs”, “El Camino”, and of course "God Father 4" with Action Bronson-- which is a stand-out among the tape's 15 records. These upbeat songs seem to bring the best out of Spitta, as he raps with more life than usual. Along with the excellent beat selection, the features are on point also. Artists such as Smoke DZA, Action Bronson and Freddie Gibbs complement the tape well with their laid back verses.
From intro to outro, The Drive In Theatre is an enjoyable listening experience. Curren$y gives us a taste of his elegant lifestyle- rapping about the cars he drives, the weed he smokes, and the money he piles up. He sums it up best in the opening bars of “Grew Up In This”: “Life a movie, who directing yo shit? That’s low budget, mine’s a Tarantino flick.”
Leave a comment, what are your thoughts on the mixtape?