XV – “Everybody’s Nobody” (Mixtape Review)

As you can see, XV is sporting an exclusive "New Era" Paper Bag hat in this cover... I think...

I can’t review mixtapes the same way as albums.

• Albums are for sale, and therefore should be held to a higher standard before you decide to shell out money for it.
• Mixtapes are FREE.
• Albums are made for signed artists (usually).
• Anyone can make a mixtape.
• Albums have to have a flow to it and certain songs don’t make the cut.
• Mixtapes sometimes are nothing BUT RANDOM songs put together in one place.

So instead of giving a rating scale for a mixtape, I’ll just give you the overall good/bad theme for it.

Now that the disclaimer’s out of the way…

I’ve been sleeping on this mixtape. I’ve never heard of XV in my life (unfortunately. I admit when I’m not up on things, and with him, I’m not), and a couple of friends told me that I should listen to this and do a review for it. So today I finally got around to it and actually enjoyed myself a lot more than I thought I would. XV’s “Everybody’s Nobody” (hosted by DJ Enuff and DJ Benzi) is better than most albums that came out this year.

The Good: XV is a pretty dope rapper. Point blank. He can flow, he can ride beats, he’s charismatic, he has some nice punchlines (he made a SpongeBob reference in one of the songs that was on point), and he’s DIVERSE. Some songs are straight trunk bangers (“Vizzy, Vizzy, Vizzy”), some are introspective (“Everybody’s Nobody”, “The Rabbit Hole”), and some just feel GREAT to play (“Awesome”). On the grand scheme of things, there’s something on this mixtape LITERALLY that everyone can connect with. It’s a great mixtape, and it’s nicely put together.

The Bad: Although the mixtape is pretty much solid the whole way through, a couple of the songs just seem thrown on there. However, that’s the flaw with mixtapes; it’s pretty much a tool to show off all of your talents in hopes of getting further than you are musically (USUALLY). “A.D.D.” is an attempt at a different genre, and is good for what it is, but a lot of people will skip over it after a playthrough (like me). “Start A War” is also a good song for what it is, but the same effect/issues plague that as well. In short, there is SOMETHING for everyone on this mixtape, but EVERYTHING is on there is not for everyone.

Bottom Line: The mixtape is great. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I feel as if more people would enjoy it if it was publicized more as well. This is one of the mixtapes that slip through the cracks and becomes forgotten about, but this one shouldn’t be. This is one of the best mixtapes to come out this year, and every hip-hop/rap fan should take a listen. It’s definitely worth a listen.

Eljay’s Favorites:

• “Everybody’s Nobody”
  
• “Awesome”
  
• “The Rabbit Hole” (LISTEN)
  
• “Undeniable”
• “Bad News”