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This mixtape was released on January 21st this year. Rockie Fresh is easily one of my favorite members of Maybach Music Group because he’s one of the only members that doesn’t suck ass. I don’t think he’s that great of an MC in terms of lyrics or even flow really, but I really like the style of production that he usually rhymes over and I think he has a pretty good voice for Hip Hop. He’s from Chicago, and you can definitely hear a lot of Kanye West influences in his music. Mostly because of the aforementioned production style. I checked out his mixtape Electric Highway back in 2013, which was his latest project until the release of this one. I don’t really remember much about that mixtape other than the fact that it was long as shit. I think I liked it tho. I think. He’s been pretty quiet ever since that project came out tho. Well, that’s not true. He did have that collaborative mixtape with Casey Veggies called Fresh Veggies. That was pretty dope. I think. I can’t really remember. So yeah. I guess I’m looking forward to this. I’m expecting average bars and fantastic production.

Track 1: The Landing (Prod. Planetarian, Mike Daley & Mitchell Owens)

Goddamnit… I can only find the production credits for a handful of songs. It should be illegal for rappers to drop projects without giving credit to the producers. Especially if your main appeal is the production you choose. Anyway, the trailer for this mixtape was actually pretty cool. The editing reminded me of an early Death Grips music video, and the beat playing in the background sounded fucking magical. Okay, this track is starting now. This production is so fucking clean. This sounds more polished than a lot of people’s albums. This beat is fucking incredible. I already feel like I’m listening to Kanye again. It’s like a spiritual successor to Graduation. What the fuck? This production is on another level. It doesn’t even make sense. It sounds like a fucking movie score. This might actually be the best, most polished production I’ve heard all year. The bars from Rockie Fresh weren’t amazing by any stretch of the imagination, but I don’t really see how anyone could say they were bad. They were just there. Everything about this track reminds me of Kanye. The production & the way he’s rapping reminds me of I Wonder. The percussion actually reminds me of Good Morning. I don’t have anything bad to say about this. I love this song. It’s dope af to me. 5/5

Track 2: Are You With Me? Feat. Ed Sheeran

Fuck. It really bothers me when I don’t know who produced a song I’m reviewing… If anybody has the full production credits for this project send me that shit. Okay, this song is starting now. I don’t know how I’m gonna feel about this song because I really don’t like Ed Sheeran. Huh. Okay, Ed Sheeran did a great job on this song. Hahaha. Nah seriously tho I actually like that hook. He sounds good. I can already tell that this subject matter isn’t for me. Hopefully it’ll be good enough sonically for me to still like it. “I just wanna buy you heels and give you sexual healing.” Yeah, this subject matter really isn’t for me. The first verse was alright. It started out as a love song, but about halfway through the verse he started going off topic by rapping about how he’s slept on. He thankfully didn’t have the same problem on the second verse. I enjoyed this track. Again, the subject matter wasn’t for me, but the beat and hook were good enough for me to still be entertained. This is dope to me. 4/5

Track 3: Call Me (When It’s Over) Feat. Chris Brown

I can already tell from the song title and the feature that this shit is about to be soft as fuck. You know, I never really thought about it before, but I just realized that I never get excited when I see Chris Brown as a feature. It’s usually the opposite of excitement. Oh no… I’m not feelin’ this beat. It’s too poppy. The production quality is still top notch tho. It’s just this beat in particular that I’m not fuckin’ with. Yeah, this definitely isn’t for me. This sounds like fuckin’… I don’t know. It’s just not good. This sounds like something that would’ve appeared on that A$AP Ferg album. OH MY FUCKING GOD. HAHAHAHAHA. Wow. This is so bad. This hook from Chris Brown is fucking awful. This is some of the Poppiest, most sugary bullshit I’ve heard in a while. This sounds like a fucking Kid Ink song. Good God. What the fuck is this shit? I’m not feelin’ anything about this song. This is Pop Rap. Nah. I can’t do this. I’m done with this fuckin’ song, man. This is wack af. I guess they did the whole Pop Rap thing well. That’s really just not for me tho. I can’t stand this shit. Even the lyric video was wack. This is wack af to me. 1/5

Track 4: 8 Missed Calls (Interlude)

I wish I at least knew the executive producer for this shit. Is Rockie Fresh a producer? Is this self produced? I’d have a lot more respect for him if it was… Damn… I just went back and listened to The Landing again. That production is fucking incredible. I still can’t believe how good that shit sounds. Anyway, this song is starting now. Ehh… I can already tell this is gonna be another song that I’m not really fuckin’ with. At least he’s doin’ a good job of transitioning out of that super Poppy love song from the previous track. Are You With Me? tries to prepare you for the sappy shit on Call Me, and this sounds like the reverse of that. This is basically an R&B song tho. This is like 808s & Heartbreak without the sadness. I’m not really feelin’ this track. Should I even rate this? It’s labeled as an interlude… It is technically a song tho. It’s not like a skit or Spoken Word interlude or anything. I’m not feelin’ this one. This is wack to me. The music video was nothing special. 2/5

Track 5: Your Life Feat. Rick Ross

Man… I’m not really feelin’ this beat. It’s not terrible, but it’s nothing compared to the first two tracks. Well, actually… I kinda DO like this beat, but that primary loop gets annoying pretty quickly. These bars from Rockie on the first verse are VERY generic. “And if I never dropped out of school / Probably never would have found music / Teachers told me that’s a dumb move / And I see why cause these racks stupid.” Struggle bars. That’s what that is. Struggle bars. This hook is pretty underwhelming. Rick Ross’ verse was a Rick Ross verse. I actually enjoyed it more than Rockie’s tho. It seems like Ross is finally able to catch his breath since he lost all that weight, so he can finally step his flow up a little. There’s no third verse. It’s over. Nah. I don’t think this song is that terrible, but… nah. It’s just not good. Nothing stands out about this song at all. The beat wasn’t even that good. This is wack to me. 2/5

Track 6: I Need (Prod. Peezy)

This is the only song from this tape that I’d already heard before starting this review. It came out like 2 years ago. It’s dope af tho. Peezy sampled I Need by Maverick Sabre, and the beat is fucking incredible. This is Graduation. This is Kanye West music. This beat is Graduation. This sounds even more like Graduation than the first song on this project. I promise you as soon as this track starts the first thing you’ll think of is Graduation. The fucking beat… I don’t even know how to convey just how much I love this beat. It’s amazing. That Maverick Sabre sample is perfect. This is a perfect beat to me. I don’t see how this production could get any better. I’m actually sad that Kanye didn’t make this himself. I’m sad that he doesn’t make shit like this anymore. This beat is better than any of the beats from The Life Of Pablo or Yeezus. The subject matter kinda reminds me of early Kanye too. “Teachers talkin’ ’bout potential that I don’t apply / But fuck school, I want vacations on the other side / I get the cake, take a break, then I self divide / I hear ’em talkin’, but I’m winnin’, so I let it slide.” Rockie Fresh isn’t that interesting of an MC lyrically, but the production alone is enough for this song to be dope af for me. This’d probably be one of my favorite Kanye songs if he was rapping over it instead of Rockie Fresh. Honestly a remix with Kanye West would be a dream come true. This Peezy guy needs more placements because this beat is absolutely mind blowing. 5/5

Track 7: Come Again

This beat isn’t bad. The hook is underwhelming. Rockie’s flow on the first verse was actually pretty dope. He had a nice diss to Donald Trump on the second verse. The song just ended. Meh. It’s decent. Definitely not bad. If I was a bigger fan of Rockie Fresh I’d probably like this. It’s not that impressive tho. He had a cool flow, and there were a couple cool lines in there. That’s really it for this one tho. It’s alright. 3/5

Track 8: Down To Roll (Prod. Zalezy & Sevn Thomas)

This beat is dope af. The first verse was average. More average bars. I’m really startin’ to get tired of Rockie’s lazy, lifeless delivery. He just sounds like he’s high as shit or he just woke up or something. Oh God… I’m not feelin’ this hook… The way the percussion loops makes it sound like some corny dance track. Yeah, I’m not feelin’ this drum pattern. Aside from that the beat is really dope. The second verse was average again. Rockie Fresh just isn’t an interesting MC. People are always talking about how he’s too good to be on MMG, but the only thing that’s really making him stand out is the production he chooses to rhyme over. His lyrics & flow are just as basic and generic as anyone else on MMG. He would probably work better as an executive producer than as a rapper. I can’t fuck with this song. I really liked the beat until that fast paced drum pattern came in. It’s alright I guess. 3/5

Track 9: Obvious (Interlude)

This is a really short interlude. It’s less than 50 seconds. It’s still a song tho. There’s an autotuned intro, and even a 12 bar verse before the track ends. I fuck with this beat. It’s not amazing. It’s good tho. I didn’t even really like the verse, but for some reason I fuck with this. It definitely has something to do with it being so short. It’s like it ends before I have a chance to get mad at any of its flaws. I enjoyed this track sonically too. This is actually dope to me. I mean, if somebody asked me to recommend a dope song to them, it definitely wouldn’t be this, but I enjoyed it. It’s weird because y’all know that I hate songs about relationships, but I actually like this song. It’s all aesthetics tho. I can’t fuck with this lyrically. The beat was dope tho. That’s really all it is I think. Whatever. All I know is that I like this song. However, if somebody told me this song was wack, I would completely understand. This “dope” rating is completely subjective. 4/5

Track 10: Tell Me (Prod. Sevn Thomas)

Fucccckkkkkkk yes. This is the beat from the trailer. It’s fucking great. The subject matter isn’t for me, but I definitely fuck with this song sonically. Something about Rockie’s vocals sounds off. It’s like they put too much reverb on it. It’s not as bad for the second verse tho. Fuck. I don’t mean to sound like an asshole, but this is kind of a waste of a good beat. That could be said for most of these songs tho. I’m not really a fan of what Rockie did with this song, but the production is good enough for me to want to hear this again. I just don’t know how often that’ll be. This song is dope. Only sonically tho. Lyrically this is a Drake song. Fuck. It doesn’t even feel right to call this a dope song. Okay, I’m just gonna say this is alright, but I’m not gonna delete it from my iTunes collection. It’s not a good song. I’m only keeping it for the beat. 3/5

Track 11: Thought About It (Prod. Chris Batson & Mike Daley)

This beat is dope af. This is more Drake music. Rockie has a dope flow tho. I’m not really feelin’ the hook. It’s not terrible. I really didn’t care for the lyrics, but this is another song that I can kinda fuck with sonically. This is really a Drake song. If somebody played the beat and handed me a sheet with the lyrics and I knew the melody of the hook, I would really think this was a Drake song. I really can’t decide whether or not I like this. This shit is soft as fuck, but the beat is really good. Ehh… Fuck it. I’m not fuckin’ with this track. It’s alright tho. 3/5

Track 12: December Rain

I just listened to this whole song. The beat is dope. That’s pretty much all I can say tho. The verse was average. Rockie Fresh might actually be one of the most average rappers I’ve ever heard. Lyrically, this is what I’d probably get from one of my old middle school friends. I feel like teenagers who don’t really care about rapping well would think that Rockie Fresh is amazing, even tho the producer is doing all the work. It’s not a bad song. It’s just painfully average. Aside from the beat. The beat is dope. Just not dope enough for me to wanna come back to this. 3/5

Track 13: Don’t Change (Prod. Sak Pase)

This is labeled as a bonus track for this mixtape, so I guess December Rain was technically the outro. That’s a pretty underwhelming way to go out. It’s not really that big of a deal tho. It’s starting now. This beat is pretty dope. He transformed from Kanye into Drake. Actually, he never was Kanye. The production reminds me of Kanye, but Rockie Fresh is just a discount Drake. “You should know you gon’ be good if you’re mine / Your ex always lying, and he blocking your shine / He told you to change, but I think that you’re fine / Come get with the team / Ima treat you like a queen.” It’s just a deluge of underwhelming bars. This beat is cool, but it’s not good enough to make me enjoy this track. It’s average. I guess. 3/5

Track +: Hesitate (Prod. Peezy & Cam)

This track came out about a week before I Need was originally released back in 2014. Again, this Peezy guy put his ASS in this beat because the production is dope af. Just like with the rest of the mixtape, the beat is doing all the work. Rockie Fresh just isn’t an interesting MC. It’s like Domo Genesis. He isn’t really that bad, but there’s really no reason to wanna listen to him other than the production he chooses to rhyme over. His flow was basic, and the lyrics were uninteresting. He also has a really monotone and boring delivery. I still fuck with this song tho. Just because of the beat. If it wasn’t for Peezy, this’d just be another underwhelming, average at best song. The music video was absurdly boring too. 4/5

Final Thoughts:

That mixtape was alright. I feel like I already made this pretty clear, but the production carried this project. 100% of the time the producer outshined the MC. Rockie Fresh is just an incredibly basic MC. In the preamble to this review, I said “he’s one of the only members that doesn’t suck ass,” but after listening to this, he kinda DOES suck ass. I don’t really see why everyone says he’s too good to be on MMG. Yeah, the production is great, but Rockie Fresh is just as if not more uninteresting lyrically than everyone else on MMG. It just sounds like someone threw Kanye West, Drake, and a shitload of weed in a pot and mixed it all up. Not in a good way tho. I don’t even know if Rockie Fresh smokes weed, but it sounds like it because his delivery and flow are lazy as shit. I said earlier that I think he has a good voice for Hip Hop, but he’s not really using it in an attention grabbing way. He sounds like he’s about to fall asleep on damn near every track here. The production wasn’t even as good as I originally thought it was gonna be. The beat on the first track blew me away. The intro usually sets the tone for the rest of the project, so I thought it would all be as good as that first beat. It was only amazing on a few other tracks. So yeah. I don’t really think Rockie Fresh is a good rapper. He has a great ear for production tho. He probably shouldn’t be the one behind the mic. He should do what DJ Khaled does. Just pick great beats and find people to rap over them. Good rappers tho. Not the ones DJ Khaled chooses. Anyway, I don’t wanna make it sound like this is a terrible mixtape because it’s really not. I’d recommend skimming it just to hear some great production. Don’t expect to be impressed by the actual rapper tho. It’s decent.

Favorite Song: I Need

Least Favorite Song: Call Me

Verdict:

63%

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