So I’ve listened to Nacho Picasso’s Trances With Wolves: The Prixtape three times today. Once on my laptop speakers, again in my car, and a third time in my headphones.
I’m really unsure how this day-after-New-Year’s-release got through my radar; perhaps I was still reeling from the holiday drops from Trox and T-Soprano as well as Stewart Villain & Dre C while looking ahead to tapes from TxE and Aminé. Or perhaps I should just blame Andre… cuz why not?
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In any case, this is a mixtape I’d highly recommend. From the beat selection to the production, from the lyrical depth to the intentional irresponsibility, Nacho and his team put together a doozy that you almost have to listen to in order to fully appreciate. Let me break it down track by track.
1. Nacho Man – A cool intro that oddly reminded me of Dennis Rodman’s most recent outburst, Nacho Man samples the pre-merger wrestling sounds of WCW superstar Macho Man Randy Savage – rest in peace. A nice trappy warm-up for the crafty lyricist.
2. Tell Me Something feat. Avatar Darko – Now this is where the slaps start. Easily my favorite song on the album, Nacho delivers on a pitchy beat… “Yellow n*gga, skate off like Bart Simpson. Know you’re cutting deep when a n*gga bleed the dark crimson” is among my favorite bars, and a clean hook from Darko makes this GO.
3. Red Ridinghood – Just when you wanna turn up, Nacho gets grimy with a surprisingly introspective yet unapologetic track with some amazing schemes. It always amazes me just how lyrical Nacho can be while rapping about the most inane things.
4. Life of Pi – This is my least favorite song on the record, but I love the hook. I rarely say this, but this Jake One beat didn’t really do anything for me.
5. Flavin’ feat. Gifted Gab – The Moor Gang general starts the track off talking about how he’s from Dimension X and my turn up quotient is immediately restored. Jake One returns with a measured slap while the Moor Gang raps about smashing unnamed cool guy’s girlfriends while they’re out “flavin'”. Awesome.
6. Bride of Frankenstein – Vampires, werewolves, and now Frankestein… I don’t understand Nacho’s obsession with classic monsters, but it sure works for him. A dark beat from Raised Byy Wolves and bars like “I’m not ya main n*gga, you should call him. I’m just here to stretch it out like Dhalsim…” Yeah. Need I say more?
7. White Bitch (Ned’s World Remix)- Nacho objectifies women regularly, and if you’re not OK with that, this is not the album for you. Conversely, if the objectification of women and other derogatory rap lyrics over hot beats make you smile, you’re going to love this track. I never heard the original, but Mack Ned does his thing on the production here.
Dope every time I played it, I’ll admit this goes hardest in the whip. I didn’t even slow down when I seen the cops, nor did I take my hat off. Chalk it up to another win for Nacho. This guy is hella out here.