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Last Week’s Albums: Big K.R.I.T., Migos & Juicy J

Big K.R.I.T. – 12 For 12

It’s been a career defining week for Southern mainstay Big K.R.I.T. The 2011 XXL Magazine Freshman took to Twitter to reveal he was leaving Def Jam after six years. The announcement coincided with the release of his 12 For 12 mixtape. The project features K.R.I.T. freestyling over a number of well-known beats, with each song released hourly over the course of 12 hours before being collected as an entire mixtape you can download here.

K.R.I.T. kicks things off with the beat for Schoolboy Q‘s THat Part before flexing his lyrical chops over the likes of Drake‘s Hype and 4PM In Calabasas, Byrson Tiller‘s Rambo, Future‘s Wicked and Pusha T and Jay Z’s Drug Dealers Anonymous. While the majority of beats are well known, K.R.I.T. makes them his own, adapting to the original flows while giving each track his own unique take. K.R.I.T. hasn’t gone on to the commercial success many thought he would since dropping his criminally underrated debut, Live From The Underground, but 12 For 12 is the perfect introduction to new fans and will have old fans hoping his time is just around the corner.

Verdict: Great project from a Southern favourite.

Migos – 3 Way

True to their word, Migos dropped their new EP, 3 Way, just hours after announcing it via Twitter. While only five tracks long, this is classic Migos, with the Georgia trio of Quavo, Takeoff and Offset riffing of each other with their unique style and flow over club ready beats.

Longterm collaborator Zaytovern is tapped for production on 3 Way (Intro) and the street banger Coppers And Robbers, while Cassius Jay, Dun Deal, and Rick Rack$ provide beats for the remaining three tracks. Savages Only starts with the words, “This goes out to all my cops killing innocent victims,” but strangely gives no more social commentary on the recent cop killings engulfing America. Can’t Go Out Sad is typical trap fare and final track Slide On Em contains the only feature from Blac Youngsta.

Verdict: Exactly what you’d expect from Migos, so fans will be happy.

Juicy J – Lit In Ceylon

Juicy J follows his Wiz Khalifa-collaborative mixtape, Rude Awakening, with his first solo release of the year, Lit In Ceylon. Teaming with DJ Blak, the 16 track mixtape is feature-free and includes production from Juicy regulars TM88, Tarentino, Southside, Zaytoven, Crazy Mike and Juicy himself.

Similar to Migos’ new EP, you know what you’re going to get with a Juicy release. One of the founding members of Three 6 Mafia, he has a penchant for rapping about women, drugs and his luxurious lifestyle over trap heavy beats, and Lit In Ceylon is full of these types of tracks. Juicy raps about his wealth and the lifestyle it affords him on tracks such as Blue Bently, Act and Enjoy, but also shows his personal side on this tape.

Opening track, Where The Justice At – a last minute addition to the tape – is a reaction to the boiling tensions between the police and black American’s. The song addresses the racism directed towards the black community and why the police aren’t held accountable for their actions that have caused the deaths of hundreds of black Americans this past year. Tarentino’s 808s banging Pressure deals with fake friends and being careful who you trust and the snare snapping Mansion finds Juicy getting reflective as he reminisces about growing up poor and now being a millionaire.

It’s a nice change to hear Juicy rapping about world events and put his personal life out in the open, but for those wanting the old Juicy, there’s enough here to keep you content.

Verdict: If you like trap beats and Southern flows this one’s for you.

Image: RapRadar