DJ Drama has been a staple in the mixtape world for several years, often releasing huge mixtapes before the releases of highly anticipated albums from stars such as T.I.
Drama, also known as "the iPod King," put out mixtape after mixtape consistently with a bevy of artists, until his world came crashing down on Jan. 16th, 2007. On that day his studio in Atlanta was raided by the Atlanta Police Department and 81,000 mixtapes were seized, along with recording material, and more importantly, Drama’s freedom. He was arrested that night†by the Atlanta police, on behalf of the Recording Industry Association of America, on charges of racketeering. Because his mixtapes with artists were not released officially on record labels, they were seen as counterfeit. Drama was released on bond the next day, but the damage was done: Drama and many other DJs stopped releasing mixtapes for fear of†a similar arrest.
Despite this adversity, Drama, whose label†Aphilliates Music Group is signed to Atlantic Records,†responded with a new, completely official CD: Gangsta Grillz: The Album.
†The first and foremost song that needs to be discussed in this review is the "Art of Storytellin’ Part 4" by music legends Outkast. While past songs in the series were excellent in their own right, this one is unbelievably good.
It features longer verses such as Andre 3000’s where he raps, "I write like Edgar Allan, to restore, got a cord / Umbilical attached to a place that can’t afford / No landscaping, or window draping / This old lady told me, ‘If I ain’t got nothing good, say nathing (nothing)’ / That’s why I don’t talk much / I swear it don’t cost much, to pay attention to me / I tell like it is, then I tell it how it could be."
Dre’s fellow Outkast member Big Boi also has a great verse, but is outshined by Dre. Still, Big’s†witty analogy†describing a failed relationship is impressive: "I didn’t mean to treat her
like she was the main feature presentation."
This song sets the bar for the rest of the album, and the song that is almost as great as this one features another lyrical duo: Clipse. The Virginia natives team with longtime friend Pharrell Williams on "Cheers." Pharrell explains on the chorus "I love so much / I don’t know how to hate," and Malice from the Clipse injects international flavor into the song with quotes like "We’re in Italy’s Milan telling the waitress ‘grazie.’"
Gangsta Grillz: The Album is filled with collaborations like the aforementioned.
Another†great collaboration is "Beneath The Diamonds," which features Houston’s own Devin the Dude, and analyzes the hard work required to gain fame, and how fame affects others’ views of famous people.
On its intro "The Setup" and "Feds Takin’ Pictures," there are direct references to Drama’s arrest. On the latter, T.I. makes a witty reference to the nickname of†boxing legend Muhammad Ali: "I’m ‘the greatest’ in Atlanta: they’re calling me ‘Ali.’"
