By Ty
Despite never achieving a great deal of mainstream recognition or success, Z-Ro has long been considered one of the stalwarts of lyrically proficient Southern Hip Hop, with some even considering him the proper heir to Scarface’s throne. Over the past three years, Z-Ro has found a comfortable niche in a trio of solid but unspectacular drug-themed albums; Crack, Cocaine, and Heroin. Before serving us with his latest drug, Meth, Z-Ro unleashes a rare mixtape offering with 5200.
Those looking for the emotionally charged and poignant MC that painted vivid hood pictures on The Life of Joseph W. McVey and Let The Truth Be Told will be disappointed. Z-Ro is in full codeine-fueled baller pimp mode here. Kicking off with the Slim Thug featured “Southside Grooving,” the duo groove to a bass-heavy beat and a talk box-crooning hook. The song is undeniably funky and starts the tape on an energetic, but Southern slow path. If the whole tape was like this, the absence of the conscious Z-Ro wouldn’t matter. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
The tape stays true to its mixtape form, offering up too many half-finished , disposable songs that sound like they were left on the cutting room floor of the Drug Saga albums. Too many songs lack that finished touch, whether it is because they sound like quick freestyles as on “Grind All Night”, or incomplete ideas like “Look Good.” The tape also suffers from an abundance of D-list production. “High” is a fast-paced mess, when it probably should have been a slowed-down Screwy delight. Other songs like “Shife” might have been more if they did not suffer from their lazy unimaginative beats.
The tape ends with the song “Moments In Tha Hood,” a song that shows glimpses of the Z-Ro of old with his powerful, emotive delivery. Unfortunately, it is only a taste at only slightly over two minutes long. Maybe we will get the full serving on the upcoming Meth. Perhaps Z-Ro was merely cleaning out his hard drive with the release of 5200. Whatever the case, the tape is completely expendable, even for the biggest Rap-A-Lot fans. Hopefully, this was only a slight detour, and not an indication of what Z-Ro is serving up with Meth later this year.
Out of 5
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