Post by StevePulaski on Sept 14, 2015 0:46:47 GMT -5
Money Talks (2013)
By: Lil Chris
By: Lil Chris
Rating: ★★½
With a distinctive style to share with the world, a unique brand of both trap-infused bangers and anthemic bop tunes, and DJ Moondawg hosting all the madness, Lil Chris's debut mixtape Money Talks is a brimful selection of Chris toying with both aforementioned genres to a solid result overall. Chris comes on the scene just as the bop movement in Chicago rap begins taking over, largely thanks to Moondawg for his constant promotional efforts, peddling the musical genre through the release of two compilation mixtapes. Chris was just one of the many talents to emerge from the mixtapes and Money Talks assembles a damn-fine amalgamation of gritty raps and infectious jams.
"Automatic" sounds like your average trap track, with 808s and snares, only notably slowed down to produce a reverb-heavy sound. The result is just one of the many strengths in the sound department on this entire mixtape: "Bop Like Me" plays with the varying speeds of different flows, "Makes No Sense" combines Chris's fast-paced lyrics with a noticeably slower trap instrumental, providing for a great contrast, "TTU" (abbreviating "too turnt up") possesses an R&B sound as Chris croons the track with his "Ciroc or Patron, Remy or Grey Goose. Rollin' off of that flat, straight shots, no juice," and "Why U Hatin' On Me" tackles the slower side of bop.
To put it simply, with this large amount of variety in the sound engineering and Chris's approach to certain tracks, Money Talks is always alive from a production standpoint. Producers like Smitty Beats and LeekeLeek do a damn fine job at making sure this mixtape has very accomplished sounds, especially for the style Chris is aiming for. The downside, however, is the occasional bloatedness of the mixtape; seventeen tracks that, more or less, deal with the same topics grows redundant after a while, even with the uniformly hefty production. Chris would later prove capable of inflicting emotional punches on his audience with the song "Keep Your Head Up," so strengthening the level of variety with a more emotional track on Money Talks would've undoubtedly broken up some of the monotony.
Overlooking the occasionally quirky mixing here - where tracks seem to bleed together, some starting with the conclusion of the former track playing during the first few seconds of a song - Money Talks is still a commendable release in terms of its production and Chris's inarguable charisma. He comes off as suave, but vulnerable, confident, but still in need of a lot of self-identity, and this is a nice testament to his craft and what he brings to one fairly common genre and one that's just getting started.
Recommended tracks (in order): "Automatic," "Bop Like Me," "Why U Hatin' On Me," "Makes No Sense," "TTU," and "I Got."