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THE DESERT STORM MIXTAPE: BLOK PARTY VOL. 1
(DESERT STORM/EPIC)
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The protégé of fellow Queens legend DJ Clue, DJ Envy drops a dud here, wasting too much time on big-name talent without ever demonstrating how he’s made a name for himself on the underground mixtape scene. Essentially, Blok Party is a mixtape without enough mixing or, more aptly, a mediocre segue session with Envy doing little more than his patented bellowing intros. He wisely kicks off the session with one of the album’s bouncier cuts, Jay-Z’s "H.O.V.A.," but the rest of the disc is padded with throwaway tracks from the Lox, 50 Cent replica Lloyd Banks, and the Cash Money Click. The Lox aptly refer to their shit-talk bravado as "toilet bowl flow," while newcomer Joe Buddens asks, "How we goin’ out to eat?/I thought you didn’t swallow." Ridiculous. Rare highlights include Redman’s "So Vicious" and Busta Rhymes and the sorely missed baritone of Rah Digga on "Throw Your Shit Up." Unlike mix legends Red Alert, Funk Flex, Kay Slay, and Clue himself, Envy doesn’t spend enough time at the mixing board. Tracks carry on far too long, leaving second-rate lyricists too much airtime for their forgettable phrasings.
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