Mixtape Round-Up: October 9-15

Not the most releases this week. One would even say it was slow. But I got some goodies for you.

If you ride with the Chicago crowd, then you must be familiar with the Brainiac Society. Helmed by 1/2 of Kidz in the Hall, Naledge, Brainiac has showed some promise as a crew recently. One of the first real projects to come out is emcee Vic Spencer's Vic Magorium's Hip Hop Emporium. Presented by, in my opinion, the best website to hit for all things Chicago hip-hop, Fake Shore Drive, you know it has to be legit. It is, in fact, legit. Vic has a nice flow that complements the mostly original production. If you like that Kidz in the Hall sound, you'll be feeling this joint.

What's Good?: "Brainiac Knights" Feat. Naledge, Vic Mensa and Fooch, "Victormized"

Tracklist and Download link for Vic Magorium's Hip Hop Emporium

I got excited when I got/heard of this project. Conair is an aspiring emcee and producer out of the Atlanta who took it upon himself to "reimagine" some of his favorite theme songs from his youth. Child Hood is an EP, not a mixtape, and everything is done by Con himself, including a little bit of harmonizing. There is only 6 tracks but you can tell none of them are hastily put together. If you only check this out for one joint, well, you hae to listen to at least two, but the best display of lyricism is dropped on "Take My Word For It," where Con rhymes about the declining use of proper grammar in hip-hop over top Reading Rainbow. But the beat on "Sur La Lune" is wicked.

What's Good?: "Take My Word For It," "Sur La Lune" Feat. Kelly Conarro (Tin-Tin Theme),

Tracklist and Download link for Child Hood EP

Don't know if you head about this or believed it if you did, but it is true that Bill Cosby has made a rap album. Cosby calls all his songs stories and they were all also conceptualized by the good doctor. I know he's not rapping about bitches and hoes and drugs and such, but I feel like this goes against the stands Dr. Cosby has made against hip-hop music in the past. It might be his way to bridge the gap and say, 'Hey, you can rap just make it not about skanks and booze," but it really seems a little late for that after pretty much discrediting the whole notion of hip-hop in the past. Even if it is the Cosnarati performing not so much Bill, it doesn't seem right. You can pick up your own copy on Nov. 24th, stream it until then.