Through an abundance of dark melodies and heavy drums, Gunplay’s message on his latest mixtape Cops N Robbers is prevalent – this is an ode to the streets. Pure unadulterated rider music strictly for the trap, not for radio. An overflow of mediocre beats and rundown concepts certainly slow down the momentum a red-hot Gunplay had last year prior to turning himself into authorities last October. All in all, the raspy voiced MC still manages to deliver a few flashes of genius throughout the project.

Fresh off house arrest, the Triple-C capo's latest offering does possess some buzzworthy moments, but those flashes quickly get overshadowed by tracks like “Drop” and “I’m a Shooter” featuring Alley Boy. Both cuts sound like productions MMG bawse Rick Ross passed over. Yeah the “Rollin” rapper may have his bars up, but it’s hard to ignore the seam of underdeveloped concepts on cuts like “The Hard Way” and “Bet That” with Pusha-T.

Sprinkled with a few not so impressive freestyles over classic '90s instrumentals like “Ion Beg” (Dr. Dre's "Nuthin' But a G-Thang") and “No Church” (DMX's "What's My Name"), these attempts don’t mesh well with the tape's overall direction and just come off confusing and out of place. Luckily, Gunplay undoubtedly brings the pain on bangers like “Definition of a Plug” with Yo Gotti and “Ghetto Symphony” featuring A$AP Rocky. Other notable collaborations, like “Daddy” featuring Trina, feel slightly dated and might leave listeners feeling short changed.     

Although the tape isn’t cohesively as put together as his previous mixtape, 601 & Snort, the MMG spitter attempts to make up for the shortcomings with an energetic flow and witty bars. Unfortunately, lyrics alone might not be enough to keep the attention of fans let alone meet the standard of quality records we’re used to hearing from the Maybach empire.

While Gunplay still shows sparks of brilliance and potential, CNR's not the best example of that. But one thing that’s evident throughout the tape is that the Dade County repper's on a mission, and he’s clearly not worried about who’s coming with or who’s left in the wind, fans and radio included.

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(Photo: Maybach Music)