I once had a dream...(noooooo not in a Martin Luther King Jr. kinda way...but almost) that there would be a mixtape that had the grit, depth, and unity of the old R.O.C days, or maybe even Dipset. Ya know...the era when you could have a group of individual artists, that were all uniquely different, yet all brought something valuable to the table. CLEVELAND'SCLOCKWORK MUZIKhas done an amazingly awesome job...turning my dream...into reality!!!CLOCKWORK MUZIKare no bench riding rookies in the music game. This dream team has been cranking out hit after hit since the first 2 way pagers started showing up on peoples belt buckles. (*yeah the big goofygray1's). CLOCKWORK MUZIK has become the midwest sanctuary for artists to find the best engineering, mixing, mastering, cd duplication, and printing all in 1 place! When I was presented with CLOCKWORK MUZIK's latest mixtape "Up In Smoke" hosted by DJ COREY GRAND, I played it off cool...like "yooo I'ma check it out". Even tho as soon as I was alone I did a back flip, chinese split and full blown Gabby Douglas! I mean sometimes I hate to jump the gun...but I already knew that "Up in Smoke" was gonna have at least a handful of songs that I could loop ova and ova again, but the whole mixtape...on repeat, that's impressive. I mean CLOCKWORK MUZIK's name has hella credits to back their work up. Creating hits forKrayzie Bone, Killer Mike, Paul Wall, Young Buck, Freddie Gibbs....*whew...should I continue...ok ok...*takes deep breath*...continues... Chip Tha Ripper, FowL, Doe Boy, 100 Proof, and Young Shank...just to name a few (*headroll finga snap). You already know that CLOCKWORK MUZIKis gonna give your ears nothing but the best. (Like mink earmuffs in the winter, or new socks with new sneakers.)
Soooooo with that being said...I know it's nowhere close to Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, or any other gift giving season....but I would never want you to feel cheated out of life.So I present CLOCKWORK MUZIK's gift to you...the "Up in Smoke" mixtape! With the summer season producing more mixtapes than Weezy collabs, and Gyro George commercials on the late night( I love those commercials), most mixtapes kinda get shuffled together. "Up In Smoke" is mos def the mixtape that you will keep on your console, it's the mixtape that will be the last thing you remember to grab before getting out of your whip, and if you let someone borrow it, it's the mixtape you call the next morning... asking to be returned."Up in Smoke" is the mixtape that will have you swearing you can flo over the sick ass beats (*leave it to the professionals ok people). When I first heard "Up In Smoke", as soon as the first songs beat dropped my head was already bobbing. Sometimes when you get a mixtape you gotta skip the shit talking intro and skip the rookies whom you have no idea who they are. "Up In Smoke" has been created on a whole other level. Sometimes they say "you save the best for last", that is proven to be wrong in the case of"Up In Smoke". Straight out the gate CLOCKWORK MUZIK drops FowL's "Spark Up"!!! Yoooooo FowL's flo is sick!!!! What a way to start off a mixtape!Think of Beanie Siegel when he was at his prime.Dude is straight gutta, confident and sets the whole stage for the rest of the mixtape. I can honestly say,CLOCKWORK MUZIK did a fine job with the roster for "Up in Smoke". It's obvious that Mike and Kenny aka CLOCKWORK MUZIK actually care about quality vs "popularity". So often producers and dj's fall into the "friend zone" in the music business. What's the "friend zone"? The "friend zone" is when you know for a fact that some music you may hear is WACK, but the music is made by an artist that you may be "cool" with, so you find it difficult to tell em..."THAT SOUNDS WACK". So the the producer or dj ends up putting them on a mixtape...not outta quality, but outta "friendship". That lowers the credibility of your name, and those 1 or 2 whack songs, will throw off the whole flow of the mixtape.
It's refreshing to see that CLOCKWORK MUZIK wasn't afraid to pick and choose wisely. The "Up in Smoke" whole mixtape is nothing but A-listers. No weak links can be found. No skipping songs over here. It actually has somewhat of a theme. Fat beats, gutta feel, and actual real lyricists.CLOCKWORK MUZIK even has Ray Jr. (*LEGIT PAPER in the houseeeeee). Even tho Ray Jr. is "Legit" the way that they have the "Up in Smoke" line-up, they casually added him in a way not to outshine the other artists. Which is almost impossible seeing as though every artist on "Up In Smoke", is holding their own. This is 1 of the dopest line-ups I've heard in awhile. I find it satisfying that CLOCKWORK MUZIK took a chance and mixed some of Cleveland's Og's like the forever infamous Ray Cash, Ray Jr. and Young Shank...with some of Cleveland's rookies like Draft Pick and KPT, and even added Fly Tye himself for that extra cocky dopeness...just to name a few. I love the way CLOCKWORK MUZIK allowed some of the midwest elite to put on jerseys and spit on an All-Star mixtape. All in all "Up in Smoke" has by far exceeded the standards of "stereotypical mixtapes". Far from mediocre..this mixtape goes hard!!! From the best of the best engineering, and the best of the best artists..."Up In Smoke" is blazing!!!!!!XOXO
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