Da Beatsmith Benny Blaze
An Eclectic Life Orchestration
Undaworld Production

The idea sounded great: a hip-hop mixtape made using samples from 1970s rock powerhouse Electric Light Orchestra. And on the instrumental side, it was great. ELO’s records were busy and very overproduced, making their music an unlikely but perfect foil for today’s rap climate. Da Beatsmith does a great job weaving the band’s over-the-top instrumentals and catchy hooks into fresh-sounding backing tracks. But the rappers here don’t even come close to being as good as the beats they’re rapping on top of. At best they lack charisma; at worst they can barely keep up with the beat. Take “The Evil Woman,” which starts with an excellent stop-start rhythm from one of ELO’s biggest hits, only to be ruined by the vocals from Jen Jen, who raps so fast that her verses could be placed on top of any track here and sound the same. The vocal highlight on the record comes from the sung (not rapped) vocals of Alisa on “Summer Feeling,” a summer jam in the style of Len’s “Steal My Sunshine.” But if the most positive thing that comes out of a mixtape is a reference to a one-hit-wonder from the ‘90s, there’s a problem. Still, anyone interested in hearing the great sounds and mediocre vocals of this mixtape can currently download it for free over at Undaworld Productions’ website.

— Adam Fisher