By Martin A. Berrios
Greetings, some of you may know me and some of you may not. With that said, allow myself to introduce myself. I am your resident AllHipHop.com Music Editor, connoisseur of fine rhyme, and authority on all things fresh.
At AHH, we take our jobs very seriously. We fight, debate and trade stares when discussing different aspects of music. We’re not like these other fugazi online websites and print publications that contribute to the bullsh*t that Jeru Da Damaja had nightmares about in 1998. They sit comfortably in their coffee internet cafes and promote these ham and eggers that have no business on the microphone or even worse talk greasy through blogs but are suckers in real life.
Now that is out of the way, let’s talk about “A Milli.” While I’m not a huge fan of Lil Wayne, I must say duke ripped this to shreds. To the point where I ride around in my juice box with an extra mean bop when I play this. I see I’m not the only one feeling this joint as everybody and their mother has hopped on this beat.
On the eve of the release of Tha Carter III, we provide you with fifteen different versions “A Milli.” We give you a good variety of participants, with some young guns, respected vets, and a triple OG in the mix. Some went in like their deal was on the line and some half stepped with one foot in the grave. Let's get into it.
Cassidy
Generally speaking it seems most accept the fact that Cassidy can spit; whether or not he can make a dope album is left to be seen. When I originally heard about him rapping on this, I thought he would have blacked out but maybe not. Cass takes a light approach on here with no change in his usual battle fair, but still delivers some stinging bars none the less: “I’m a pimp but I don’t rock crocodile shoes / I’ll pop the tool and make a ni*** crocodile food.”
Charles Hamilton
Before he got scooped up by any label, he was hitting up all the unsigned artist showcases in the city. Charles is on some regular ish; no gun busting, or triple beam dreams. While I appreciate dude doing him, I wasn’t with it. Not once while I was listening to this was I surprised by a crazy metaphor or any witty wordplay.
Chip Tha Ripper
With a name like Chip Tha Ripper, one would think he would knock this one out the park. But with a stick in the mud energy and little microphone presence this ends up being a mess. I’m outraged.
Cory Gunz
I don’t know why everyone is hopping on the bandwagon now; Cory has been nice for many moons. The son of Peter has put the hurt on many beats in his time and this was no exception jack. Gunz runs through this joint with ease with a lightning quick delivery (“Pass you with a flow you could never put a brake on / And I break on anything a ni*** take on / Feel the napalm from my trey arm / Straight long, throw a ni*** like I'm Akon”).
Cyssero
I’ve seen Cyssero give dudes the business at the Monday Night Fight Klub battles so my expectations were high. Needless to say he didn’t disappoint. He goes hard as he switches his tone and tempo resulting in some crazy bars: “I’m a monster with an appetite of a mobster / So Ima eat this beat like its pasta, partner / Chicken fettuccine or penne a la vodka / Twisting up that Bob Marley, smoking like a Rasta.”
Gillie Da Kid, Bump J, Meek Millz, Nitti
Gillie starts things off nicely with some braggadocio bars (“The new Gucci’s they be twelve hundred a pair / That’s six hundred a sneaker, but it’s free for you to stare.”). Bump J (Not the one from the Chi) and Meek Millz follow up with rapid verses while Nitti takes his time as the closer. If I had my choice though I would rather State Property gotten on to represent Philly.
Jadakiss
Honestly I’m a big fan of Kiss. I think pound for pound he might be the most consistent rapper as far as a quick sixteen bars are concerned. But I’m going to call a spade a spade; this right here falls short. Jada sounds very much uninspired. It’s like he forgot his backwoods at the studio, went back and heard this beat playing. Unless he comes in with a big single, I expect Kiss My Ass to go a couple hundred thousand copies short of gold. Thanks.
Jay-Z
You know what; I guess I’ll be the first one to say it. This is just okay. Jay could have done so much more to make this special considering the amount of people that have already jumped on this joint. No spicy double time flows, no memorable lines, or genius double entendres for that matter. You can’t knock him based on his albums because we already know what it is. But on these street freestyles, it’s like watching a once great boxer known for knocking out dudes early, now fight defensively just to last the entire match. It’s true, it’s true.
Juice
Originally hailing from Phoenix, Juice now rides with The Game and The Black Wall Street family. He only goes in for about a minute and doesn’t do anything out of the ordinary in my opinion. Despite the fact he does have a buzz circulating around him and a lot of people pointing to him as next from the West, I wasn’t floored by anything on this performance.
Lil’ Mama
It looks like they sent a woman to do the job of some of these dudes. Lil’ Mama goes in for almost five minutes straight (“Ever seen I Am Legend, once you’re a beast you’ll always beast / Ever heard I am legend, listen to what I do to beats”). You get a mix of speed, hints of a dirty south accent, a T.I gun reference and even some pig Latin. Needed a reason to take her seriously as an MC? Here you go.
Los
For those not in the know, Los is from Baltimore. He battled Cassidy when they were both youngsters and the streets pretty much judged him the winner. He was signed to Bad Boy but seems to be a free agent now. I say all that to say this, dude is nasty: “If I pull my glock up on you / You’ll be running like Borack Obama / If we beefing bring your armor, before I knock a pothole out you / Take that that beef bring some shells and make a f***ing taco out you.” Ouch.
MIMS
Adjust your hater meters to low please. For the most part folks throw this kid under the bus due to his only claim to fame only being “This Is Why I’m Hot;” and rightfully so. But I must say dude surprised me with this freestyle. MIMS rides the beat nicely and goes for extra swag points with some slick lines (“I got a million flows, I can switch like chameleon / Fresh prince, got more banks than aunt Vivian”). Nicely done.
Papoose
Want that gully New York talk; then look no further. Gun clap sound effects and mentions of jewelry getting yapped make this extra Brooklyn. While for the most part Pap does his thing, lines like “I stay with the desert like a cactus” and “My ni***s Soo-Woo like a Wu Tang lawsuit” make me feel in a way though.
Uncle Murder
Okay Murder says he is back on this one but he was never on right? Or did I miss something? Anyways you get your typical death threats and putting your brain on curb tough talk. But dude isn’t nice. Sorry Brooklyn.
Willy Northpole
We have more action from Phoenix. Willy Northpole (pause) is apart of the new blood at DTP Records. Will stays on point with the track and shows he has some lyrics in him (At first labels tried to ignore me / Attack them like Shaq / Start hacking these ni***s like Horry”). Let’s see if Luda can get the kid a release date.
VERDICT:
While I love what Cory Gunz, and Cyssero did with this, I got to give the honors to Los. The kid simply spazzed out, therefore taking the Lil Wayne approved golden Styrofoam Cup home. Don’t agree? Then vote it up below:
Who Ripped "A Milli" The Hardest? ( polls)