Right from the intro to his new mixtape, B*tch I'm 'Mis Talented 2 (don't let the title fool you, there's some real hip hop here), Saint Louis hip hop artist Vandalyzm issues a challenge to all his fellow emcees. He produced the first track in the style that most rappers use in the mainstream these days with the 808 drum kit, rolling snare and falls between 60 and 70 beats per minute. Explaining how easy it is to flow over that style of beat, Van tells us he is about to show us just how talented he is by not using those beats throughout the rest of the project. Many of the tracks are paying homage to friends of Vandalyzm. The first, "For Amir" is the first in a slough of soulful tracks with samples from classic songs like The Cecil Holmes Soulful Sounds' "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby". He also pulls in sample clips from classic gangster movies like Goodfellas. As anyone knows old gangster movie themes are a staple in the hip hop world, and Van did not disappoint there.
Van's metaphors are tight, meaning they actually following logical progressions. As far as emcees go, he seems to have his own personality in a world full of copycats. You get comedy, real opinions on topics such as the government, songs about... "relations" with women, and the state of hip hop in and out of Saint Louis, all mixed in with a little braggadocio. He has room to brag a bit too, as you would expect from any emcee worth the mic and popper stopper they spit on. Without a lot of features, this mixtape holds up well and can easily be listened to from front to back with no skips. The features that are included - from Gotta Be Karim, Diz Gibran, MosEL, El Prez, Sean Falyon, Mic Terror and Theresa Payne all fit well in the scheme of the project. With most of the project produced by Vandalyzm himself, you might be inclined to agree with the title as well. Give it a listen here.
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