It's hard to listen to Gillie Da Kid's highly anticipated solo release, The Best of GDK Mixtape, without thinking about Lil Wayne. The Philly native sparked one of the most talked about beefs in hip-hop last year by claiming responsibility for Lil Wayne's dramatic change in rap style and enumerating various unaccredited ghostwriting efforts for the Cash Money camp.
The jury is still out, but if Gillie really did scribe most of The Carter, as he claims, it just seems a shame that he didn't keep any of the songs for himself. While beef with Wayne has certainly helped to create hype for his Best Of mixtape, it also creates expectations that do the rapper no favors. The problem is not that Gillie does not live up to the Weezy F. prototype, considered by many to be the gold standard of flow and swagger in rap music right now, it's that he does not even live up to more humble comparisons.
Just as Gillie's ghostwriting claims are a blessing and a curse, the ambiguousness of what comprises this "debut" proves a double-edged sword. As a compilation of the "best" offerings from his recent mixtape releases, it is packaged in a real case and the 14 tracks are all well produced (if monotonous), with no sirens, gunshots, or shouting DJs. They are legitimate songs, not freestyle snippets and shout-outs. However, the collection fails to stand up as a real album, and sometimes you find yourself wishing Gillie would just hop on the "This Is Why I'm Hot" beat and show us what he's got. Existing in an ambiguous state between mixtape and studio album, Best Of fails to capture the positive qualities of either.
The album kicks off with "Holla Back," a Swizz Beats-style track built around a vocal sample from Jay-Z's "Moment of Clarity." Gillie sets the tone for the rest of the album by spitting standard, semi-clever bars about guns, coke, and enough bullets to "knock the LA off a Dodgers cap." Things continue along thin lines until Young Hov is invoked once again on "Figga What, Figga Who," where Gillie shows us that he can almost rap like yet another legend, but not quite. Ironically, the track also recalls memories of Jay's own ghostwriting controversy since the original "Jigga What Jigga Who" included a verse from his estranged mentor Jaz-O.
But unfortunately the analogy ends there, because there's no surprise visit from Wayne or any other ghosts of Gillie's Cash Money past. Instead, Gillie is joined throughout by various members of his Major Figgas crew, whose throw-away verses do nothing to advance the plot. Apparently, Major Figgas had a hit in 2000 with "Yeah, That's Us," but the Philly-based collective has failed to recreate this success since. Still, Gillie and his squad are not newcomers to the game by any means and the album as a whole does not come off as a rookie effort. On tracks like "Ghetto That I Live In," Gillie shows a knack for documenting his block and his struggles; there's no doubt he's been through a lot. But "realness" and experience do not always translate into compelling listening, and at times there's a "been there, done there" quality to the songs. It's coke rap without the charisma of Juelz, the passion of Jeezy, or the dexterity of Jay. It's "Murder Murder Kill Kill Homocide" (actually a track title) without the silver lining of being either creative or gripping.
There are flashes of potential, however. The similarities between Gillie and Wayne are not impossible to imagine on tracks like "I Love Being Gangsta Pt. 2," where he switches his flow up and finally hits his stride. The beat has an epic feel to it and Gillie captures a believable braggadocio as he taunts, "Look at the expression on they face when we step up in the place / Goddamn, homey, I love bein' a gangsta!" Not surprisingly, this is by far the best song on the album and proof that Gillie can rise above mediocrity. Anyone who's caught a "Smack DVD," YouTube clip, or TV appearance of Gillie in the past few years knows he can spit, and he certainly has all the trappings of the "next big thing": major label beef, street buzz, and hood cred. But on this collection it's hard to not see him as another dude who can freestyle for days but somehow loses all his swagger when he steps into the studio.
As a mixtape, GDK would be worthy of a spin or two. But as a Best of... compilation masquerading as an album, it's a letdown from the hype surrounding Gillie. It seems that "ghostwritin' the hit" has taken its toll and "tha kid" has no gas left in the tank.
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