Post by StevePulaski on Jul 21, 2015 17:20:03 GMT -5
Problem Child (2015)
By: Boss Top
By: Boss Top
Rating: ★★★
In a sea of Chicago rappers, some of which climbing the ranks in popularity whilst others are sitting firmly in their roots of playing with life on the streets and dropping bars in the meantime, rapper Boss Top can blend in with the crowd fairly easy. His cut-throat and admittedly inconsistent rapping style can throw off a great many people, who are already committed to the trap rap of Glo Gang and OTF, especially after Top's mediocre debut mixtape At Yo Neck two years ago.
Top, who has considerably fallen off the radar, releases his sophomore mixtape Problem Child with a fraction of the buzz he conjured up a few years ago (largely due to alleged beef with rapper Chief Keef). If Problem Child can merit at least some of the recognition Top gets for his remixes and his first mixtape, then I'd label it a commercial success. If not, let that not diminish the strength of this mixtape in sound and improvement, showing lyrical and instrumental capability where At Yo Neck showed a couple strong songs and a great deal that felt like filler.
Problem Child opens aptly with "Problem Solver," with Top explaining how ever since he was a toddler, he was known to cause problems for everyone, but mostly, his tumultuous neighborhood that is the South Side of Chicago. Top is nothing but himself here, brutal and hard-headed, and conducting himself as he's known - a vicious product of dangerous streets that steal your innocence at a young age and can often ask you to make some of the most daring sacrifices, including your life. "Copy," the followup track featuring the likes of Gucci Mane affiliate Young Scooter, has Top loosening his grip just a wee bit, going from the hard-hitting lines of murder and drug dealing to commenting about how he knows many people are just carbon copies of himself. These two songs alone illustrate a lot more lyrical power and production strength than any stretch of At Yo Neck, and listening to this mixtape up until this point, it was exciting to see I still had twelve tracks ahead of me.
Making up those remaining twelve tracks is a competent freestyle of Top's, "Once Upon a Time," a gritty song about Top and the life of him and his comrades on the streets of Chicago, "All the Time," assisted by the likes of Chicago greats like Lil Herb and Lil Reese, "Bet He Won't," a rowdy tune featuring Waka Flocka Flame that has both artists placing bets on the fact that a naysayer won't live up to his threats, the Young Chop-produced "No Joke."
Top has a collection of strong anthems on this mixtape, only misstepping by serving his mediocre song "Foreclosures" with an even more repetitive and mediocre sequel - I would've rather seen Top's tour-de-force "Hell Naw" be followed up with something as creative and hard-hitting - in addition to the monotonous and uneven "Mama." Yet, Problem Child has Top affirming his savage characteristics, painting dark pictures of what it's like to live on the streets of Chicago (and when I say "streets," I mean streets), and extending his talent for more than just the length of the average song. In other words, Top proves he's not just good for one or two back-to-back hits and that's it, but rather, a complete package.
Recommended tracks (in order): "Problem Solver," "Copy," "Once Upon a Time," "Bet He Won't," and "No Joke."