Plies - "Ain't No Mixtape Bih"

[StevePulaski]

Ain't No Mixtape Bih (2015)
By: Plies

Rating: ★★★

While absent from the mainstream circuit for a good six years now, Florida MC Plies has found considerable success on the mixtape circuit. Rather than being restricted to catchy, hook-based radio hits, Plies utilizes mixtapes to show his unbridled side, where he can be angry, hateful, graphic in his sexual descriptions, and, most importantly, his favorite, real.

Not since his sophomore record Definition of Real, and not since his mixtape No Chaser has Plies been so well-rounded and complete on a release. Including a multitude of songs that boast cocky attitudes, melodic tendencies, and some dirty romantic ballads for good measure, Ain't No Mixtape Bih is the complete package for Plies fans, especially those like myself who found a core piece missing from his last release Da Last Really N**** Left 2.

If this tape proves anything right off the bat, it's that a collaboration mixtape between Plies and producer Jahlil Beats is warranted, if not already long overdue. After Plies did one of his well-known "P-Mixes" (his coined term for remixes of Top 10 hits or other rap songs) of the Jahlil-produced "Hot N****," I knew the two had a terrific chemistry. Plies' ability to almost talk over the best, confidently bringing his trademark southern gangsta drawl over the instrumentation, was something that resonated with me in regards to being a hard-hitting, winning song. Plies and Jahlil work to craft one of the hardest mixtape intros I have yet to hear; an unstoppable force of assured, cut-throat raps dolled out over the course of five minutes where most mixtape intros are forgettable of stupidly ambiguous. Plies' intro sets tone and its tone that makes one slowly smile and nod in agreement that he's indeed back and ready to go at it again.

The only other Jahlil-produced track on the tape is the previously released "Dayum!," a song released shortly after Plies was attacked by a fan at one of his concerts back in April. It was an almost necessary release after the incident had Plies shamed and ridiculed on social media websites; the event obviously had enough of an effect on him to warrant several lines condemning it, the circumstance, and, of course, the fan himself.

Plies persists on, however, with tracks like "Bih" that carries themselves with a heaping helping of swagger and authenticity to Plies manner of speech and diction that have made him such an amusing presence. What's intriguing, too, is how Plies works to house more melodic songs in his music than ever before. Consider "U Ain Gotta Mean It," a slightly sad song about Plies demanding the woman he's having sex with to say she loves him even if she doesn't mean it. There's a real sadness behind Plies' glacial melody and enunciation that comes through in the song and carries over to songs like "Hood" (produced by the always commendable Zaytoven), where Plies uses his accent to stretch words out until they're thin, and "On His Way Home," another track where Plies really drags out the song's chorus and melody-rich sound.

While there are a handful of fun Plies tracks like "Sportscenter," where Plies talks about how he blows so much money and so many designer clothes that his athlete-esque lifestyle should earn him a spot on ESPN's show Sportscenter, and "Groceries," comparing the genitalia of women to that of supermarket contents, tracks like the aforementioned "On His Way Home" and even "Been Happening," which opens with a forty second speech from President Barack Obama concerning race relations in America, are what work to make the tape memorable as a whole. "Been Happening" reminds us that while we may talk about tragic events like the Michael Brown shooting and the strangling death of Eric Garner, many of us don't know what empty racial discrimination feels like, which Plies gets to the heart of in this particular track.

Ain't No Mixtape Bih, regardless of whether it should be called a mixtape for its lack of a pricetag or an album because of its title, is a winning release from Plies, an unfairly bashed and often overlooked rapper who continues to use his trademarks to extend past what many rappers struggle to do with a lack of branding or signature feature.

Recommended tracks (in order): "Intro," "Bih," "On His Way Home," "Hood," "Been Happening," and "Sportscenter."