Each year, XXL Magazine publishes a list of the best up-and-coming rappers—the Freshmen 10. And every year, rappers and fans complain about the results. Rapper XV was excluded, and his latest mixtape, Vizzy Zone, gives XXL readers another reason to criticize the controversial list.
Although this may sound cliche, XV is not your typical rapper. For one, he is from Wichita, Kansas. The young rapper’s hometown and other surrounding areas don’t have much of a hip-hop scene. The only Kansas rapper to gain national attention is Tech N9ne, who XV cites as a strong influence.
The Kansas rhymer also gains distinction because of his personality. He’s quick to admit that he is a loner and a computer geek, and his raps reflect this lifestyle. He constantly drops pop culture, video game, cartoon and comic book references.
On the 20 tracks included on the deluxe version of the mixtape, XV spits over original production from fellow Kansas native Michael “Seven” Summers, Woody, Colin Munroe, the Awesome Sound and Omen, who has worked with Lil Wayne, Drake and Fabolous.
The story of the mixtape is the teamwork between the rapper and Seven, who created half of the beats for the project. The two have collaborated a lot over the past couple of years.
Seven has a knack for finding abstract sounds and samples then building hip-hop beats around them. On the intro of the mixtape, “Theme to Vizzy Zone,” Seven samples Gloria Gaynor’s disco hit “I Will Survive” to craft a laid-back, spacey track.
“Nevermind” borrows “Hey” from the Pixies, the iconic alt-rock act. XV lays down lyrics about being an antisocial nerd around the electric guitar, with the handclaps and chants of the original song.
Lines like “What a loser/Abuser of my computer/Open up the windows to Windows and watch it boot up/Playing Tekken 6 as long as I get Kazuya” shows XV’s fast yet smooth delivery.
Seven’s masterpiece comes two songs into the work. Few hip-hop producers consider ‘70s British symphonic rock for inspiration, but Seven is an exception. Electric Light Ochestra’s “The Battle of Marston Moor” is sampled for the best song on the mixtape, “The Flying V.”
If New Orleans producer Mannie Fresh managed to resurrect Beethoven for a studio session, “The Flying V” is what it would sound like. Ominous strings are complimented by live percussion, hand claps and an eerie keyboard melody.
“Talk My Sh*t,” produced by the Awesome Sound, features XV bragging about his lyrical prowess as a young rapper, and he backs it up with witty punchlines and sharp delivery. He also took time to take a shot at the magazine that failed to recognize his talent.
“XXL didn’t expect XV to excel/so before I enrolled I was expelled,” he raps.
The mixtape is stuffed with great content, and features well-crafted production. XV more than holds his own, showing off creative wordplay and unique delivery. Great production combined with great lyrics; it sounds like a recipe for greatness.
But somehow, the mixtape ends up just being average. Twenty songs are too many, and XV struggles to find his sound several times on the bloated body of work.
Songs like “Passport” and “She Go, I Go” sound as if a Warner Brothers executive tried to force him to make a radio hit. These additions definitely detract from the overall quality of Vizzy Zone.
But despite its shortfalls, the mixtape still proves that XV is more talented than most of his peers.
Vizzy Zone is available for free download at www.djbooth.net.
