Beyond This Point – “This Is A Mixtape?!” (Mixtape Review)

"Yoga FIRE!" Wait, no? Ok, wrong reference... thought he was Dhalsim from Street Fighter... my bad...

First off, forgive me if I misspell anything. Please.

Ok.

The homegirl Cali (follow her on Twitter! Heavy tweeter warning though) sent me this mixtape from “Beyond This Point” to review last week and I had no idea of who this group was or what they did or any background information on them at all. So I put it on the iPod and pressed play.

The title fits. This feels like way more than a mixtape. This is more of an introduction to the way these people do music. Completely different, completely eclectic, completely original, and, more importantly… completely recommended.

The Good:

It’s not rap. It’s not R&B. This is something different, almost on the same brain wave of originality NOT unlike a Timbaland “Shock Value” project, but with more of an eclectic hip-hop/r&b feel to it. It’s the best way I can describe it, honestly.

From songs completely inspired from beat-boxing (“Dredflly Mrvelu5″), to the transformer-infused hip-hop song (“Rnd0m H@us”), to the almost Black Eyed Peas-ish vibe (“Ap3 Shyt”), the whole mixtape shows off all the different dimensions of this group.

The presentation and the effects in the song are wild, outlandish, random, and but somehow it all comes together in an oddly dope way.

The Bad:

First off, its only nine songs. I wish it was longer because the experience is over too fast. In that defense however, each song is lengthy, and the mixtape is DJ-scream free. Trust me, there’s a lot of other random sounds to keep you occupied…

The group is also not the BEST of singers, but the melodies and the song concepts carry them one-handed through those soft spots in the mixtape-album.

The Interesting:

Hip-hop fans, meet AO. He’s the in-house rapper on this project, and the songs he’s featured on are insanely dope. I’ve never heard of him (I don’t think I have, at least), but from the feature verse on “Dstr@y Me” (which had one of the most clever intro punchlines I’ve heard in a long time: “It took me 10 years to Detox…”), to his own song with “Rnd0m H@us”, if these two songs are any indication, this dude is nice with it.

Bottom Line:

The presentation’s there. The lyrical content is solid. It all comes together in a way where I can’t put this group into a type of category. The originality for this on another level, and I can’t put it into words how surprising this mixtape is.

I still can’t believe this is a mixtape… it feels like something way more. You should check this out. End of review.

Eljay’s Favorites

• “Rnd0m H@us” feat. AO
• “Dstr@y Me” feat. AO
• “Mynd Rnnin’ feat. AO
• “FUTRE 2 FTURE”

(Click here to download Beyond This Point’s “This Is A Mixtape?!” courtesy of “Pardon My Fresh”)