Charles Hamilton – “Normalcy” (Mixtape Review)

Yes! The "What-the-heck-am-I-looking-at" cover art signifies that C.H. is BACK! I have no idea what the heck this is...

Eljay’s History Lesson 101:

One of the best mixtapes I’ve ever heard was Charles’ Hamilton’s “Pink Lavalamp.” One of the best freestyles I’ve heard was when C.H. spazzed on DJ Green Lantern’s show for 20 minutes. One of the first people I decided to follow on Twitter (3^rd, actually) was Charles Hamilton. One of the first people to actually respond to any question I had about a celebrity or anything like that…was C.H (we had a convo about different races dating, and why it shouldn’t be a big deal). Also, the first mixtape review I’ve ever done for HipHopStateofMind.com was his mixtape…

So of COURSE I’m going to be all over this when it dropped. Unfortunately, I forgot about the music “review” part because I honestly was too busy listening and bumping the music in Indianapolis during Christmas break while eating Chipotle with Rhymestyle.

Pause.

That being said, it says something about a mixtape when it’s over a month later and it still gets spins religiously like it’s a full-feature LP. So, I’ll just put this out there. When you think of C.H., “Pink Lavalamp” and “Normalcy” should come to mind. It’s by far his two best projects he’s ever released.

The Good:

Regardless of what you think about Sonic personally, you cannot deny that the guy is musically gifted with the rhyme schemes. You also can’t say that he sounds like someone else, because he definitely has his own sound. The mixtape flows pretty well, the production is devilishly clever,  (“WorkinInTheLab” samples “Monster Mash”, “Suicides” samples “Do the Hustle”, etc.), the lyrics still have a sprinkle of that C.H. cryptic double-meaning (“Baby Says I Want” is a good example)…

But two things stand out to me more than anything. The first is that C.H. has gotten more flow-tastic, meaning he varies his flow SO MUCH on this thing, it’s hard to deny the dude is a dope rapper. “August Rush” channels his inner-Eminem in the first two verses, “See and Say” has a more laid-back, swagger-filled delivery, and “Suicides” is just NICE.

Secondly…this mixtape is mixed/mastered. No more lo-fi quality music, meaning you can put this in anywhere, and expect it to BANG OUT like nobody’s business.

The Bad:

There’s a couple of blemishes here though… one or two of the tracks seem to not really fit. They’re ok for what they are, but I have no desire to listen to “Laptop Therapy” again. Also (this is just me being picky), but the “Coodies” beat breakdown at the end of the song went for WAAAAY too long… but I’m sure some people will think that was dope. I wish the “WorkinInTheLab” beat played longer. But as always, that’s just my personal opinion.

Bottom Line:

I personally think it’s top three on the projects he’s ever released, behind “Pink Lavalamp” and a little above the “Well, Isn’t This Awkward” mixtape he did based on Rihanna (which I would LOVE to hear MASTERED by the way..). As a hip-hop fan, you at least need to hear some of the tracks off of this, if not the whole thing.

Sonic’s dope. The end.

Eljay’s Favorites:

• “Suicides”
• “Baby Says I Want”
• “WorkinInTheLab”
• “August Rush”

(Download it HERE)