“The Drive In Theatre” is the latest mixtape from New Orleans emcee Currensy. The tape features guest appearances from Action Bronson, Le$, B-Real (of Cypress Hill), Freddie Gibbs, Fiend, Smoke DZA and others as well as production from Thelonious Martin, Cardo, Cookin’ Soul and others. It was released on February 14, 2014 for free over on DatPiff.com.
1) Introduction – The first song on the project is produced by Thelonious Martin (who actually produces a good portion of the mixtape) and its pretty ill. The beat has a nice little guitar sample with other ambient sounds in the background, but its lacking any sort of drums to really drive the instrumental. I kept waiting for the beat to drop but it never actually does, which is kinda cool because is keeps you waiting in anticipation. Lyrically Currensy comes through and just kicks a quick verse incorporating his usual weed, women and whips rhymes. Not bad for a quick intro.
2) Godfather Four (featuring Action Bronson) – I think this was the first song that was released in promotion of the mixtape and its fire. The beat, by Nesby Phips, is full of cinematic violins and strings, soft keyboards and booming drums that give the beat a real Mafioso feel. As far as the rhymes go, both Currensy and Action Bronson stick with the theme of the track and spit some Godfather inspired braggadocios bars about how they are Dons in the rap industry. This is dope.
3) Stove Top – Production duo Cookin’ Soul stop by and drop off an incredibly smooth banger for Currensy to spit over. The instrumental is full of sultry horns, airy keyboards and head nodding drums and Currensy sounds great over it, rapping about staying on his grind and trying to stack his paper, among other things. So far the production on this project has been exactly the type of production that I feel Spitta sounds best over – laid back and breezy. Too bad this is so short since its absolute fire.
4) Vintage Vineyard – Thelonious Martin returns, this time coming with another mellow banger that is centered around a sample that I know I’ve heard before, but can’t place for some reason. As on the previous song, the beat has a real airy feel and Spitta Andretti comes correct over it, kicking some more boastful bars about his extravagant life style. Another dope track.
5) Stolen – Now this is a sample that I do know. Thelonious Martin comes through with yet another laid back instrumental, this time using the same sample as CunninLynguists “The Park” off of their “Dirty Acres” album. I’ve always loved the summery feel of that sample and its great to hear Currensy doing his thing over it. I’m especially feelin’ the hook on here where he raps
“Bought it this morning, drive it like I stole it
Park it, left it running like I really don’t want it”
So far this is shaping up to be one of Spitta’s better projects of the past few years for me.
6) $ Migraine (featuring Le$) – And the dope shit just keeps coming. On this track, Spitta teams up with Houston rapper Le$ as both emcees spit some braggadocios rhymes about their cars, money and weed over a beautiful Cardo and Young Exclusive instrumental. Le$ is known for making that real smooth shit and fits in very nicely with the mellow vibe of the mixtape. I’d love to hear him and Currensy team up for a full length album of songs just like this one. Very dope.
7) E.T. (featuring B-Real) – Despite both emcees being known for their weed raps, I really never thought I’d ever hear a collaboration track between Currensy and Cypress Hill’s B-Real for some reason. Currensy, obviously, thought differently and delivers with another ill track. The beat, by Thelonious Martin, has a sort of mellow, boom-bap vibe going on and both emcees just rip it, giving me flashbacks of some older Cypress Hill material, just not as dark. This shit is fire.
8) Grew Up In This (featuring Young Roddy and Freddie Gibbs) – Currensy recruits fellow Jet Life member Young Roddy (who dropped a really ill full length project with Spitta last year) as well as Gary, Indiana native Freddie Gibbs as all three emcees kick some rhymes about growing up in the streets. The beat, also by Thelonious Martin, has a slightly somber feel which makes it somewhat unique on the mixtape so far. This is good, but its not my favorite song on here.
9) M.P.R. – The beat on this track, once again by Thelonious Martin, has yet another smooth jazz sample that still manages to get your head nodding despite the minimal drums. The beat is ill and Currensy sounds good over it, as should be expected by now, rapping about his drive for money, power and respect. Dope shit.
10) 10 G’s – Cardo comes through with probably the most synth-heavy instrumental on the project so far, but the beat still has a really smooth feel to it. Spitta Andretti has always sounded especially good over Cardo production and this track is no exception, as the New Orleans emcee kicks some more rhymes about flipping his money and about racing his car. Its crazy how he can rap about generally the same thing on every song on every project and have it still sound fresh after all this time. Another dope track.
11) El Camino (featuring Mary Gold) – You can tell exactly what this song is going to be about simply from the title alone. The beat, by Kariu, has some more synths and keyboards, but the bass hits hard as hell as Currensy uses this time to kick some more rhymes about ridin’ around in his El Camino. Not bad, but not one of my favorites.
12) Hi Top Whites – Thelonious Martin returns for his final contribution to the mixtape and its real good. The instrumental trades out the synths of the previous few songs for a more organic feel, with some atmospheric horns, an airy sample and rolling drums. Currensy comes through and kicks some more boastful rhymes about his cars and women. Dope.
13) Fo – Currensy spits about his determination and drive to succeed in this rap shit over another beautiful Cardo and Young Exclusive instrumental. The beat is real breezy, with some jazzy horns and a cinematic sample over subdued drums, and I’m feelin’ how Spitta changes up the topics a bit to wonder how much longer his success is going to last. This ones a banger.
14) The Usual Suspects (featuring Smoke DZA, Fiend and Cornerboy P) – Well this is the obligatory Jet Life posse cut and its actually pretty dope. The beat, by 183rd, blends the jazzy horns from the previous track and then layers them over hard drums and trunk-rattling bass that ups the energy level a bit. Smoke DZA sets it off with the first verse and sounds ok, with Currensy having the strongest verse when he closes out the track. As far as the others, Fiend comes correct, but I’m not really feelin’ Cornerboy P’s verse at all.
*Bonus track*
15) Payroll (featuring Trademark) – The final song on the mixtape is actually billed as bonus track, but it would have sounded right at home as a regular track on the project. I’m not sure who produced the beat, but its got a real laid-back vibe to it, with some low-key horns, soft keyboards and mellow drums. Lyrically both Currency and Trademark do their thing, as usual, rapping about the usual topics of weed and money. Dope.
I’m going to rate the mixtape
4.25 / 5
because its one of my favorite Currensy projects of the past few years. The production is really good on pretty much every track, with Spitta showing an amazing chemistry with Thelonious Martin (who really impressed me on here by the way). The beats are breezy and light in tone, perfectly suiting Currensy’s smoked out flows and boastful rhymes. I’d probably put this one right up there with “Covert Coupe”, “Cigarette Boats”, “The Stoned Immaculate” and his “Pilot Talk” series. Head on over to DatPiff.com and download it for free ASAP.
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