Post by StevePulaski on May 22, 2015 13:42:22 GMT -5
Ain't No Money Like Trap Money: Volume 1 (2015)
By: Fredo Santana
By: Fredo Santana
Rating: ★★★
The Glo Gang catalog, or "empire," as it was proclaimed on the last release, is an ever-expanding force of trap music, judging by the multitude of promised projects, materialized releases, and select new artists hitting the scene this year alone. Dropping just before the summer (but not before two previous delays) is Fredo Santana's heavily hyped Ain't No Money Like Trap Money: Volume 1, rumored to be his last project before exploring potential acting jobs, so he claimed a few months back.
If Fredo concludes his short-lived music career with this particular project, he will have gone out with an audible bang. This is a well-rounded trap mixtape, bathed in gritty lyricism, mixed with autotune, carved from a cut-throat lifestyle embraced by Fredo and his peers, and sprinkled with sadness and realizations into the rapper's checked life. Fredo begins by asking us the serious questions with the repetitive "How You Want It" and the infectious "Where Yo Trap At," which channels old school vibes thanks to the assistance of Lil Durk and Lil Reese, showing that through all the money, fame, and drugs, he still has a soft spot for those he starved with.
Fredo's riskier side emerges with this release with songs like "I'm Going," which explores the much more complete and contemplative features of cloud rap than Chief Keef's Nobody album ever could. Fredo's dreamy, mesmerizing vocals illustrating pain instead of chemically reinforced confusion and prose instead of incoherence make this a track one needs to hear and then hear again to obtain all its subtleties. Fredo and DJ Holiday find a collaborative way to further their risk-taking on "Pass Me the Double Cup," a hypnotic ode to the prescription cough syrup/soda concoction Fredo loves to sip on throughout the day. The second verse of the song goes from a medium-paced trap anthem to brewing a slurry, methodical effect that has Fredo proclaiming, "I think it just kicked in," mimicking as if he's off the concoction right then and there. It's a brave style choice that could've resulted in a mediocre tune, but thanks to competent production and the revelation of internal demons and pain, this song sneaks by as a big winner for Fredo's discography.
Other more repetitive songs that echo trap tendencies without the experimentation are still incredibly effective. There's "Bricks," which has Fredo proclaiming his love for the manufacturing and soliciting of illegal drugs, and "Bad Habits," a song encompassing all of Fredo's unhealthy vices, that cater to the market who wants to see the old, traditionalist Fredo Santana minus all the experimentation. The big winner here, however, is the previously released "Dope Game," featuring Chief Keef, which evokes a poppier sound to the traditional trap anthem with both rappers performing on top of their game and making full use of the production they've been gifted.
Ain't No Money Like Trap Money: Volume 1 stumbles a bit with songs like "Splash," "Go to War," and "Always in the Kitchen," all of which bear lazier flows that simultaneously don't cater to the well-rounded production nor provide any kind of extractable satisfaction in the line of being infectious trap tunes or experimental oddities. Nonetheless, this is one of the most complete Glo Gang mixtapes I have yet to hear; it takes risks, it remains loyal to its origins, and features a commendable amount of insight into Fredo as a person rather than a Chiraq personality.
Recommended tracks (in order): "Dope Game," "I'm Going," "Pass Me the Double Cup," "Bad Habits," "Bricks," "Keep Gettin' Money," and "Where Yo Trap At."