Monday, August 15, 2011

XV - 2XLP (a misshapedmixtape)

For anyone that hasn't heard of the rapper XV yet... well... you're about to.

XV is a ridiculously gifted lyricist who has released a string of excellent mixtapes. His most recent mixtape, "Zero Heroes," blew me away -- especially the track "Pictures On My Wall." Hopefully when he drops his official album through Warner Brothers (someday), it won't disappoint and it'll fall more on the Kendrick Lamar major-label-debut end of the spectrum than on the Wale side.

Anyway... I dug through seven of XV's best mixtapes (and his personal website) to serve up this fantastic collection of songs. The mixtape kept building and building... and ended up being double LP length (nearly two-and-a-half hours long). Personally, I don't think there's any filler on this. It's all essential listening. And nice beats to match.

Even diehard XV fans will find pleasant surprises on this mix, including never-before-released NoDJ/tagless versions of four songs from his "Everybody's Nobody" tape: "Blinded," "Me, You," "Everybody's Nobody" and "Vizzy, Vizzy, Vizzy." How did I manage to get those on here? Well... I'm not going to reveal my secrets...

Also... I cut out what I considered to be weak verses from guest MCs on a number of tracks: no Big Sean on "Life vs. Living," no Harlem's Cash on "Carmen Sandiego" (though I left in his decent verse on "Blinded") and definitely no Mac Miller on "May The Force Be With You" (but Killer Mike's part is still there).

Other than that, I scrubbed out the word "faggot" from the one song it popped up on. I mean, I'm as anti-FCC as it gets, but that's uncalled for (and thankfully out of character for XV -- who overall seems like a pretty decent, open-minded guy).

Without further ado, here is "XV - 2XLP (a misshapedmixtape)" [check for download link in the "comments"]:

 1 : The Rabbit Hole [Everybody's Nobody]
 2 : Mirror's Edge (ft Mike Posner) [Vizzy Zone]
 3 : Farewell [Planet Squaria: The Square in the Circle]
 4 : Smallville [Zero Heroes]
 5 : Now Look [Everybody's Nobody]
 6 : Watch Me Go [iamxv.com release]
 7 : Nevermind [Vizzy Zone]
 8 : Pictures On My Wall [Zero Heroes]
 9 : Everybody's Nobody [Everybody's Nobody]
10 : Everything Is Cool [Planet Squaria: The Square in the Circle]
11 : 2015  [iamxv.com release]
12 : Reset Button (ft Talib Kweli) [Vizzy Zone]
13 : Me, You [Everybody's Nobody]
14 : All These Foolish Things [Recycle Bin]
15 : Life On Mars [Planet Squaria: The Square in the Circle]
16 : That's Just Me [Zero Heroes]
17 : Life vs. Livin' [Everybody's Nobody]
18 : The Return (ft Bling) [Recycle Bin]
19 : Falling Awake [Vizzy Zone]
20 : Wichita [Zero Heroes]
21 : Carmen Sandiego (Gov't ReMix) [Please, Hold]
22 : Blinded (ft Harlem's Cash) [Everybody's Nobody]
23 : American Dream [Recycle Bin]
24 : Bad News (Nobody's Somebody) [Everybody's Nobody]
25 : Textbook Stuff (ft Kendrick Lamar) [Zero Heroes]
26 : 1997 [Planet Squaria: The Square in the Circle]
27 : Lift The Game [30 Minute Layover]
28 : U.F.C. (ft Kristina Rose) [Zero Heroes]
29 : May The Force Be With You (ft Killer Mike) [Vizzy Zone]
30 : Well, Come To Earth [Planet Squaria: The Square in the Circle]
31 : A.D.D. [Everybody's Nobody]
32 : Foreign Exchange Student [Zero Heroes]
33 : One Thing [30 Minute Layover]
34 : Vizzy, Vizzy, Vizzy [Everybody's Nobody]
35 : Vizzy Zone (ft Kid Cudi) [Vizzy Zone]
36 : Hey There [Recycle Bin]
37 : Undeniable [Everybody's Nobody]
38 : When We're Done [Zero Heroes]
39 : In Due Time [Everybody's Nobody]
40 : The Kick [iamxv.com release]

3 comments:

  1. Dear Foxtrot,
    What an awesome start.

    XV is so good, absolutely killas. Incredibles! But you already know that. There’s a couple of things that I loved this mixtape for.

    The First: The Rabbit Hole is absolutely perfect as an opening and as a flow. I envision a really freakish version of Alice in Wonderland (i.e. Johnny Depp while smoking meth).

    The Second: The samples worked so well in his songs. They come out so seemless and natural. Instead of being a jarring beginning and end to the rap section, XV sort of weaves each one in and out.

    The second part two (Smallville): I dig each of the times he uses the Smashing Pumpkins. It’s so hard to sample Billy Corgan’s voice and make it sound decent. Usually it ends up being painful. But to sample a song where someone is covering Billy Corgan and make it sound phenomenal? Ridiculous!

    Respectfully,
    Derek

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  2. NEW LINK:

    http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BUW0JZ5N

    I found one more (brand new) essential track to add: "The Kick."

    40 songs is a nice round number, don't you think?

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