Kismet - A Mixtape Review

"Wisdom from a witch doctor / Whispered in my ear, the ingredients to conquer / then he shed a tear, burning benzoin resin / Squirting urine at my adversaries"

I don't feel like typing out Mr. Muthf*ckin eXquire every time I refer to him, so I let's use MMX for short. First things first, the dude can rap. With three stellar mixtapes under his belt, MMX is starting to make an impact on the underground rap circuit. His flow is always silky smooth, he's consistently hilarious, and he maintains a sort of ignorant bravado on every track. Granted it's not for everybody. There is plenty of misogyny to go around. There are glorifications of drug use, sex, violence and all that good stuff. Err...you know what I mean. But, context is an exception for MMX. There's not too much biographical information out there on MMX, except that he's from Brooklyn and tends to not really care how people react to his music and artwork choices. That being said, most of his stuff is playful and not meant to be taken too seriously.

MMX is one of those rappers whence one looks upon a MMX lyric sheet you become utterly confused. It seems jumbled, off kilter, corny, and unmethodical. Yet, when you hear his bars they magically flow with the beat. It's a rare skill, a skill that separates the average from the elite. However, he's not one to blow you away with wordplay. Metaphors? Yes, but they're...a bit hard to explain. It's an auditory experience for sure, nothing to be analyzed really. But the dude is just straight funny. He'll shout blasphemy at the government one line, then transition into a fellatio experience. MMX will talk about God then ramble about money or pride with no correlation. He makes up words, philosophies, events, and it's all tongue in cheek. And Kismet is his best tape yet.

The entire mixtape is heavily entertaining, great for driving around to, chilling to, whatever you do. I'm not that hip. But MMX has endless style and a great ear for beats. There is a nice mix of Boom bap and soul and they all bang. Especially the percussion. The guest verses are a bit disapointing though. Danny   Brown has some decent bars, but everyone else falls a bit flat. It's my only gripe though and it certainly doesn't cripple the listening experience. A must listen for sure.

Rating: 8.6/10
Download link: Audiomack

Top 5 Cinematic Trailers for Video Games

As of late I have been doing far more gaming than listening to newer albums so I'll stick with what I can focus on until I can spit out a review. So whats a good start? Another list!

As I mentioned before on the Destiny trailer article I do love cinematic trailers, but they always put me on edge. I get way too fired up about the game in question and basically set myself up for disappointment when game play reveals finally roll through. So with this list, it will simply be my 5 favorite cinematic trailers that got me the most jacked up for the game in portrayed.

#5 Halo 3:
This trailer blew me away in a big way when I first saw it. I was, like most people at the time, eagerly awaiting any spare news or rumors about the "final" game in the Halo series and would do anything just to get a small glimpse of the Chief's new adventure. Then this drops, serene, peaceful, then BAM! Chief is back with his fancy new bubble shield and my precious assault rifle that I missed ever so much in Halo 2. It may have revealed next to nothing about the actual game, but god damn was fired up and ready to play right then and there.

#4 The Last of Us:
I love post apocolyptic settings, atmosphere building, and survival mechanics in games, and this trailer is like a beacon in the night for all of that. Without telling me who these people are, what they're doing , or what happened the amount of tension that is built here can be cut with a knife. It's outstanding, dramatic, and you can certainly count on me getting this game the minute it is released. Summer dead zone my ass.

#3 Deadpool: The Game:

To see Deadpool done right in a game is a big part of making my life complete. This reveal trailer hits most of the Deadpool spots perfectly. It's zainy, over the top, completely parodying itself, has badass action, Cable is in it. About 90% of what I wanted this game to turn out as is confirmed so hell yes I'm excited. Hopefully at E3 we'll all get to see a little peek at the actual game play but for now, I remain a squealing fanboy.

 

#2 Star Wars: The Old Republic:

Raise your hand if you don't think lightsaber fights are cool... even a little... not one bit... that's what I thought. This trailer just gets why we all love the Star Wars series, it is the ultimate clash of good and evil and  the Jedi and Sith are the perfect warriors to duke it out. The big dynamic action of this trailer made me get truly excited about an mmo for the first time in a long time, and for that Bioware, I thank you. Playing it on the other hand...well....LOOK MORE LIGHTSABER FIGHTS!

#1 Gears of War (All of them):

I for the love of God cannot decide which one I like best. All of these trailers suckered me into buy the games, and maybe even colored my opinion of them entirely. They are so profoundly disturbing in how they shot this war torn planet and the fight for survival that these soldiers face. I mean, These are some of the grittiest, most violent, and quite frankly at parts out-rightly disturbing games I have played. So what does Epic games choose for the trailers? Generic hard rock? Skrillex? The mating call of a dial-up modem? No, they choose minimal soft music to contrast the action, which makes it seem all the more intense. Seriously I can't decide, they are all outstanding. 

Hyperion - A Review

Hyperion by Dan Simmons

Every once in awhile, some story (whether it be a novel, TV series, film) sneaks up on me and simply blows me away. Immediately afterward I become unreasonably pissed off. Why you ask? Well I get angry when I discover something so good that I have been ignoring for so many years. Although, I haven't necessarily ignored Hyperion, I was simply ignorant of its existence. Which is...I don't know, I don't have to explain myself to you. I don't want to give away too much, but I want to praise some its aspects in hopes of getting you to read this excellent novel, because I honestly believe there's something  for everybody. 

Some preface: it is sci-fi, which if you're anti-science fiction, hold on. It's not hard sci-fi, I mean, it has its fair amount of jargon, but nothing too hard-boiled or confusing for the sake of confusion. It takes place in the future, humanity has advanced quite decently, there is adventure, space travel, so space opera is a decent genre to place Hyperion in, but that doesn't really do it justice. There are high stakes, but the focus of the novel is the characters and the mystery that surrounds them. The future tech is not too crazy, as there is a layer of logical science behind everything. Basically, all of the good aspects of science fiction. Creative worlds, the great beyond, the demise of culture and government, beautiful scenery, and all of the mystery that slowly unfolds around the world of Hyperion.

To all my english majors, or fans of classic literature, my god, there are just allusions on allusions. The story is a framed tale (like Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales), in which seven pilgrims are chosen to take the pilgrimage to the Time Tombs on Hyperion, where the legendary Shrike lurks. Do you know what any of that means? Of course not, but it's badass in every sense of the term. The fate of the galaxy may be at stake, so the pilgrims decide to each tell their own life story to figure out why they were chosen for the pilgrimage. Each tale is...just fascinating. We get to see character development and world building in the most absorbing way possible. Stories of faith, love, prowess, fate, and adventure that all slowly tie together beautifully. They grapple the purpose of religion, of self, of humanity's destructiveness, all the while the pilgrims slowly descend on their journey. Also for my poetry fans, John Keats plays a rather large role throughout the novel. 

Hyperion is a slow burn that develops complex ideals and truly rewards the reader. There is deep sense of mystery and discovery, and as it develops you yearn and decipher and eventually come to relish Simmons' passion for literature and scope. The prose does not dilly dally or walk in circles, and when all of the pieces come together, you only want more. 

I can't really say much else without spoiling, so I'll leave it here. The characters are genuine and layered with personality, the plot is wide in scope and builds marvelously, and the world that Simmons develops is a gem of intrigue. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Rating: 9.8/10

Currently Reading/Next Review: Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson