As far as laying down foundations for a mixtape or albums go, using Al Pacino's epic speech from Any Given Sunday is a good place to start. As a result, I was intrigued by D-Genius' tape right from the Intro because the very first track, Inches has you listening to the speech. It is a great start to the tape. There are however problems with using this speech and D-Genius runs into such problems through the tape. As soon as I heard Al Pacino waxing lyrical about "clawing, fighting, winning and losing" a degree of expectancy arose. To use such a moment from such a film, is to accept that your project will have to be about a struggle, it has to be completely and utterly epic. Unfortunately, a few of the beats and tracks on Inches do not fit this requirement.
That said, I am not going to punish a tape on the basis of what I expected on hearing the intro. Indeed, Falling actually met my expectations, opening with this fantastic and atmospheric hook. In my mind, the struggle I anticipated had begun, with D-Genius balancing two aspects of his own anticipation stating, "My mind says no/ My heart says go / My gut breaks up the fight and says you don't know." It's a nice line and the flow is always on point throughout the track. The limelight however, is stolen by the hook and a general trend which is apparent throughout the tape is introduced; D-Genius makes use of some absolutely fantastic choruses for this project. This track progresses into the triumph of the project and Something New blares in through your speakers with an extremely fitting synth driven harmony given the chorus which cites "spaceships" and "the start of something new". Again, the hook is superb and the rapping is equal to it. There is a fantastic energy about the track, particularly evident as D-Genius returns for his second verse, "rip the game to shreds, collage it together / Start something new and make it last forever." The line is not only animated, but intelligently delivered. The "collage" idea is somewhat innovative and D-Genius builds on it by playing around with the notion of artistic permanence by hoping his work "lasts forever". The track is excellent .
The weakness I discussed earlier in the review is most evident on Run For Your Life which in itself is actually a decent track. I was never blown away by it and the fact that I am still reflecting on Al Pacino roaring INCHES at me means it just fails to meet with my expectation. The beat does not really work if we are to consider Inches in totality. That said, the production is on point and if the track were anywhere else other than this tape, there would be no issue to discuss because it is a fun track, littered with clever lyricism. For instance, when addressing the girl in question, D-Genius asserts. "and you know you a dime / And I'm next to you / 11 or 9." It doesn't take much to decipher the line, the girl is obviously a 10 but its a fairly clever way of saying just that at a timewhen most rappers are banging on about how great a girl is at taking dick. D-Genius admirably avoids the easy options with his lyrics and he challenges himself to come up with new ideas about exhausted topics and he actually excels. As I said, the track is by no means weak, it just feels out of place and the same can perhaps be said of LeBron, a track with a somewhat similar concept to Kendrick Lamar's Michael Jordan. LeBron opens with the most emotive moment of Pacino's speech: "Look in his eyes, now I think you will see the guy who will go that inch with you". I expected (rightfully I feel) that some really hard emotive beat would follow... but I was wrong. D-Genius bursts into the track with incredible energy, bragging about his "swag" which, when paired with his flow is undeniable. LeBron is an unbelievably "swagged out" track and it has made my ipod for the sheer reason that during Summer, I can picture myself bobbing down the street blaring this out checking bitches. The hook is again excellent and the only flaw is that this beat just does not match the Pacino intro.
The final track home to D-Genius' flow is Paradise, a wonderful beat founded on some infectious vocals. The rapping on the track is excellent and it changes up from time to time, as D keeps his listeners on their toes. It won't surprise you when I say that the hook is once again superb and it is essentially a mini love story and I know that such a concept can be somewhat cliche, but Paradise is never tiresome and I can assure you that it is an engaging and interesting track.
D-Genius only really falls down in one place on this track and this is that his general intro and concept is unmatched by the beats selected. This isn't a massive issue but when you are reviewing a tape, you need there to be totality and that is something lacking on this project. That said, every track is excellent. The production is fantastic, the rapping is energetic and thoughtful.
POTENTIAL: 8/10
Strengths: The hooks man, the hooks! Flow, delivery. It's excellent.
Best Tracks: Falling, Something New, Lebron, Paradise
Weaknesses: There is a detachment about it all, the base quote doesn't fit the concept.
Weakest tracks: Lebron (in the sense the beat does not fit the intro given), Run For Your Life.
I got a real XV feel from D-Genius' work and enjoyed listening to this tape a lot, in spite of my misgivings surrounding the intro.
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