Having a mixtape with extraordinary features/production is becoming a little more common in 2010. It makes sense since your tape is like your introduction to the world, a demo in a way. Have tapes gotten a little out of hand and became better than albums? That remains to be seen and formed by your own opinion. One thing is for sure though, with more power comes more possibilities.
To add another incredibly dope artist to the mix, Kid Ink’s debut tape, Crash Landing, gives hope for a West Coast artist to finally reach the world. Being the first artist under DJ Ill Will’s Tha Alumni imprint, Ink has a lot of pressure on him to deliver an outstanding project. Using the big connections to his advantage, upon a first glance, Crash Landing looks like quite a full course audio meal.
However, a glance doesn’t constitute for the music. The first two records, “Crash Landing Intro” and “Keep It Rollin’”, capture attention in different ways. With the first cut, it’s straight spitting for two minutes over a nice marching band sounding Jaywan production. On the next song, Kid speaks to all the weed smokers but it stretches past that if you’re a fan of good vibing music. It stands out as being a little more lyric focused than most smoking songs.
This project has so much diversity in content though. Despite its annoying, but catchy chorus, by Roscoe Dash, “Shorty Shorty” could be a big hit in the clubs. The other potential lies within “Double Take”, featuring Bei Maejor. The thing about both those club records is Kid Ink still dominates the verses while the features enhance the hook beyond what normally would’ve occurred. Don’t think that Kid can’t do some chorus damage on his own because “Messing Up My High” is up there with the other two.
In addition to having good features, the production is very on point. “La La La”, with production by Kajmir Royale, is a perfect fit for Crash Landing. Kid’s la la’s during the hook are dope background ad-libs to match the concept. Even when it isn’t with more known producers, he’s able to capture and keep the attention. Raw Uncut’s work on “All I Know” was made for radio play and having Sterling Simms provides another reason for it.
With everything that is good with Crash Landing, there has to be some improvement. Ya Boy struggles to fit in with the pop-ish sound of “Getting Good.” He should stick to the rapping that he came up on. Everyone’s taste is different but “Take Over The World” hasn’t stood out as a good record. Little room for improvement on this newcomer’s behalf made for a very dope project.
Download Crash Landing in its entirety HERE
Shoutout Sermon!!!