By Odeisel

The hustle is about movement.  It’s about momentum.  The West Coast in the post-Death Row era has been severely lacking momentum and direction. Recently however, there has been a resurgence in activity and motion, punctuated by its semi-savior Game.  A single person does not a movement make, and so the new blood of the West has begun to galvanize and move towards bringing the left coast back to prominence.  Nipsey Hustle is part of this movement and his newest mixtape Bullets Ain’t Got No Name Volume3 stands as evidence for anyone thinking otherwise.

The album starts with a freestyle over the J-Rock heater “All My Life.” He does an able job of blazing but his performance pales in comparison to the debris left from Lil’ Wayne’s demolition of the track.  Nipsey does exude a certain swagger and confidence that makes him sound like he truly belongs on this microphone.  That may sound like a given, but how many amateur hour mixtapes have dropped already this year by neophytes with an entire quarter to go?

The songs in general are compact and direct.  Beats and rhymes and not much space for choruses. Most songs are only slightly longer than three minutes aside from a couple of the longer group tracks.  “We Gangbangin’” has a southern Jeezy-ish feel musically with the typical gang bang lifestyle bigup.  It is a lifestyle and an omnipresent factor in the way they live but none of the emcees are really that enormous a personality to carry that subject past the boundaries of California.

“New Money” continues the smoking bud rich rollin’ lifestyle rhyming but is weak in its execution. Lloyd’s falsetto on the hook is a bit too high-pitched and borders on annoying. The tape adds some surprising depth with “The Hustle Way.”  Here Nipsey abandons the glamorized gangsta and gets to the real meat of what that life is really like. Much less fun, much more bullets. This song is where Nipsey can separate himself from an artist like Game who is similar in subject but larger in personality.  This kind of real talk approach to his life will do more to allow people in and identify with him and buy into his music.  In response to a drive-by shooting, Hustle is confronted by the question of who’s out for revenge and retaliation. “If banging is your religion it’s like a sin not to.” ‘Nuff said.

The first surprise of Bullets comes with “Speak My Language” which features Cory Gunz and Lloyd Banks. Banks voice sounds a bit strained on this but comes through with a solid performance. The chorus is boring and juvenile but the performances, the lyrics and the beats overcome that fault.  Nipsey lightens up on the West Coast twang in order to fit in more, but it’s still evident.  Cory Gunz once again drops a heater of a verse in a much slower than blackout speed and it helps him get heard much better. Another banger is the mostly murdered “Strapped” guest-banged by the homie Coby Supreme, who blesses a few songs on this work.

There is a quantity of filler on this, most notably “CEO,” “Diamonds,” and “The Best.”  These songs are reasonably close to each other and slow down the momentum of the album.  They are also, unfortunately, mostly Nipsey solo tracks which brings into question whether he has the true stamina to be a solo MC.

Stellar guest performances include a very dope appearance by Cuzzy Capone on the solo track “Killin’ Em Cuzzy.” He is certainly helped by the beat, but he handles the music with aplomb with a well-paced, well structured song.

All in all this is not a groundbreaking mixtape.  There is however a lot to work with between the weed the rides and the rhythm.  If Nipsey Hustle can break away from the whobanging talk, where he just sounds like a cuz version of Game, complete with color references to his footware and the banging talk, and focuses on his struggle and his individual hustle, his career can certainly have some legs.  He’s got the delivery and the charisma to carry a well produced album with a enough guests to cover his lack of content. Bullets Ain’t Got No Name Volume 3 by itself is a solid, if bloated by filler piece.  With some leadership and proper management his album could be more than a warning shot signaling the Wild West’s return.

DOWNLOAD Courtesy of the good folks @ DUBCNN.Com

Out of 5 

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