Mixtape Review: DJ Paul & Drumma Boy, Clash of the Titans
Individually, DJ Paul and Drumma Boy have each come to be known as two of hip hop's go-to guys for hard-hitting, speaker-blasting beats. Collectively, they've worked with much of the industry — most of your favorite rappers, at least. So when the two decided to make a mixtape together, an epic, heart rate-increasing experience emerged otherwise known as Clash of the Titans.
On the tape, the duo enlists the help of 8 Ball, Jelly Roll, Trae tha Truth, Young Dolph, Gangsta Boo, Gorilla Zoe and more, but in addition to digging out the trenches of the tracks, Paul and Drumma also handle emceeing duties, dropping that classic Down South flow that, while not always the most lyrical, is guaranteed to make your head nod.
Drumma Boy produced the intro, "Yeah Yeah." It starts out with an audibly soothing piano providing the calm before the storm. "Like a monster coming to haunt ya, show you my vision like a menace ready ta kill/Wait for the finish, like a leach, appetite beast, eatin' producers any rapper/slash these actors, f--k with the realest, I'm a master," Paul rapped over this drum and bass-centric smash. Then Memphis veteran 8 Ball shows why he's considered a legend, spitting his signature gritty flow over Drumma Boy's pounding keys. And, on the similarly combative "Muscle So Strong," Crunchy Black lyrically wrestles with your peace of mind.
From start to finish the mixtape never lets up, providing banger after banger.
Songs like "Gimme Room" and "Million Richer" are the perfect beats to get kicked out of the club to. The latter especially, with the hook alone, "Million dollars richer than I was last year/Breakin' bread with my n----s like I did last year/'Bout ta pop a hundred bottles like I did last year/Drop the top on the 'rari, I'ma do that 'til this year."
Trae Tha Truth adds his signature southern drawl to the DJ Paul-produced "Jump on N----z." The organ heavy beat made for a dynamic backdrop over which Trae balanced out Drumma and Paul's amped up flows.
And that classic Three 6 sound that occurs when Gangsta Boo and DJ Paul are together is exactly what happened on Clash of the Titans' semi-feel good track "I Feel Like." For her part, Boo delivered one of the more uptempo flows on the entire mixtape with, "Don't be scared, go hard or go home/I'm a rock star, daddy, I party all night long/Now we in our own zone, so let's get to it/Come and show me how you do it/Got me high and super loose, yeah."
8Ball returned on "Cheffin Skills" to drop another dope verse over the notably dynamic track, which featured cymbals, bells and everlasting bass. And "No Ifs Ands or Buts" might be the mixtape's most infectious hit, leaving the listener helpless against the urge to bounce to the catchy track.
Overall, Clash of the Titans is two people doing what they do best with great chemistry. Despite average tracks like "Cocaine" and "Don't Get No Realer" — which features lines like "My Glock'll like yo' a-- like Facebook" — the mixtape was full of high quality production and basic, yet still entertaining lyrics.
BET.com is your #1 source for Black celebrity news, photos, exclusive videos and all the latest in the world of hip hop and R&B music.
Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.
(Photo: Scale-A-Ton Records)