Add-2 & Khrysis – Between Heaven & Hell
This tape was executive produced by 9th Wonder, and you can hear his influence all over the project. Add-2 has been buzzing on the underground for a minute, and when he’s in a groove (like on “The Death of Chicago”) the dude can really rap. Khrysis handles the production on Between Heaven & Hell and he serves up nine smooth Midwestern soul-beats. (Download)
Lecrae – Church Clothes 2
Lecrae is a Christian rapper who doesn’t get a ton of coverage in the rap mainstream, but he has managed to develop a pretty big following. I can see why, he has a unique perspective, doesn’t even come close to rapping about the same cliché topics, and he’s a very talented rapper. My one criticism of the tape is that even though Lecrae is completely breaking lyrical conventions, his beats and flows are, for the most part, not that original. (Download)
Tinashe – Black Water
I don’t usually recommend R&B tapes in the column (in general there aren’t that many R&B mixtapes). But Tinashe is the kind of talent who could blow up like Frank Ocean or The Weeknd. This girl has a killer voice and the vibe provided by the project’s beats is really unique. (Download)