Off-Rip-Meet Off-Rip (hosted by Don Cannon, DJ BJ 3525 and DJ Ray)
Lyrics: 8.75/10
Beats: 9/10
Features: 9/10
Production: 10/10
Content: 8/10
OVERALL RATING: 8.95/10
When Drake said ‘Dropped a mixtape, the sh*t sounded like an album”, he was talking about Off-Rip’s mixtape “Meet Off-Rip”. In fact, I wouldn’t have even known it was a mixtape if it wasn’t for the brilliant hosting abilities of Don Cannon, DJ BJ 3525 and DJ Ray. From the title itself, you can tell that this mixtape is going to take an arrogant tonality throughout its content, which may draw a lot of criticism to this Detroit rapper, but the critics will be quickly silenced once they hit play.
This mixtape contains 14 full tracks, none of which being half-songs, random verses, or freestyles, normally found on mixtapes. Lyrically, Off-Rip delivers fantastic punchlines with repetition happening very rarely in any track. The only criticism I have, lyrically, is there is an abundance of Scotty Pippen references throughout the entire mixtape. This isn’t a bad thing, but occasionally, with many other rappers coming up with similar lines regarding Jordan and Pippen, it becomes tedious. However, Off-Rip also delivered, what I consider, to be the most hilarious punchline in his track “Cocky and Arrogant” where he was able to fit the line “I’m a motherf***er, no Delonte West” in.
In terms of content, this mixtape contains many tracks that present Off-Rip’s cocky attitude that, as mentioned before, most critics would take from the title of the mixtape. Cocky and Arrogant”, ‘My Time”, “Don’t Show Up When I Blow Up”, and even “Swiper” are just some of the songs in which you can see Off-Rips serenely confident attitude. However, there are also some deeper tracks on this mixtape, such as “They Say”, and “Best of Me”, which provide a good balance.
When it comes to features, “Meet Off-Rip” has some of the best I’ve ever heard. Not one of the features on this mixtape take away from the songs, or pull Off-Rip down with their lyricism or flow. This shows a fantastic level of musical maturity from Off-Rip because he clearly recognises his music ability and limitations, and does not try to attempt things that would not work with his flow. In fact, by including R&B/pop singers, such as Bobbi in “They Say”, Delo Cotton in “Give It All”, and Parje in “Best of Me”, it shows musical diversity, and he was able to improve his music with the people he brought in. He showed off his diversity even further with his own audotuned hook in “Show Up When I Blow Up”, some rappers just can’t pull it off, but he did.
Overall, it is safe to say that this is one of the most professionally made, and most developed mixtapes I’ve ever heard come out of the underground, and is a definite must listen. If you’re interested in checking this out, you can find the link in the August 25th edition of “What You Wanna Hear This Week”.
