Album Notes

Illmatic in a mixtape--Soulmatic. A creative, turntable-driven journey through a 19-year-old, future rap star's mind.

From "Kickoff" to "Overtime," this album will live forever in your ipod and system jeep. Sam Soul starts his Technics 1200s with the "Kickoff" trumpets and fresh scratches, and goes through a 50-minute musical mix of mayhem.

The lyrical assault begins on track two, "Game Time," as Shotime starts to rhyme on one of the "coldest" of instrumentals. This quickly blends into "All Day Grindin"; a soon-to-be AND 1/Tony Hawk videogame mixtape classic. "In tha Buildin'" is like "N.Y. State of Mind '05" (see Nas' Illmatic 1994). And it don't stop.

Knowledge continues to be dropped on "Who's Next," a freestyle named "16 Bars of Heat," and another freestyle so thorough it had to be broken into two tracks-"Crunk Flow I" and "Crunk Flow II." The witty, Harlem and Ohio native laces "Str8 Spittin," and a series of other classics before pausing for the deep and wildly-impressive "Growin Pains."

This album would be worth its price tag even if stopped here...Yet, Sam Soul kicks off the second half with "Try Me," and Shotime responds with some of the most thorough lyrics since Prodigy's "H.N.I.C." The next few freestyles are equally impressive, highlighted by the machine-gun lyrics contained in the "Killin Em Freestyle."

The bomb, "Body Rock" is detonated next. Like a true soldier, Shotime checks for survivors on "Who Want It."

Listen: Shotime will not only become your favorite rapper; he'll soon be your favorite rapper's favorite rapper.