Search - Gillie Da Kid :: The Best of the GDK Mixtapes

Mad Gillz.

Pablo | 03/16/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"It's rare that an emcee builds his name off of a scandal, but if anyone could inheiret Mobb Deep's old Infamous moniker, it'd be Gillie Da Kid. Truth be told, no one would know who Gillie was had it not been for the Cash Money controversy that continues to make waves today. By now, it's been widely accepted that Gillie ghostwrote for Wayne as he claims; while some biased, and honestly, blind, Wayne fans may try to defend their hero against these accusations, Gillie's proclamation of 'the facts are in the wax' are presented in full-force on this best of mixtape. Some people maybe wondering how Gillie can have any sort of 'best of' when he hasn't even released a studio solo album, but as the name of this collection suggests, this is a best of his numerous mixtapes, compiling the very best tracks of them into one album to showcase Gillie's talent.



Babygrande has evolved into one of independent hip-hop's premier labels over the last couple years, and this compilation is another solid piece of working coming from the imprint, even if it isn't a collection of new material. This album has two purposes; one, to introduce Gillie Da Kid nationally, and get the hip-hop world acquainted beyond the scandalous ghostwriting affair; and two, to hype his upcoming debut, which will drop as soon as Gillie completes his current label situation. If you have all of Gillie's mixtapes, there isn't much of a point of purchasing this album; you won't be receiving anything new, and something you couldn't have done yourself. For those new to Gillie, though, this is the perfect place to start, as it further solidifies his stance in his beef against Weezy F. Baby.



The rhymes on this album are pretty hot, and the production is surprisingly very dope, especially considering every track on this album is a mixtape joint. For those who're new to the emcee, and think Gillie's a Southern emcee, he's actually from Philadelphia, and the production on this album is strictly East coast from beginning to end; you won't find any Lil' Wayne-esque production on this album. However, if you're an honest to goodness hater of Weezy, I also can NOT recommend this album to you; Wayne and Gillie's rhyme structure is virtually identical, down to the ad-libs that the two emcees provide. The flows are also remarkably similar, and Gillie's lyrics don't really expand beyond Wayne's own street-bravado. If you're a fan of one artist, it's pretty hypocritical to hate the other; so I'd definitely recommend the Best of GDK Mixtapes to supporters of Lil' Wayne's style than I would detractors. That doesn't mean that Gillie doesn't have some disparaging remarks for the self-proclaimed Greatest Rapper Alive, though; he does mention Weezy's name a couple times throughout the release, though the name dropping next gets excessive; he'll usually mention him one time on a few of the tracks, although he sustains from dropping more than a few bars on the subject.



For what Gillie Da Kid's Best of GDK Mixtapes is, it's very good. Gillie Da Kid is an obviously talented emcee, and this is nothing more than a sampler of sorts of what we can expect from him in the future. Pick it up if you want to know what all the hype's really about, but wait for the album to see his full potential exposed."

3.5 stars for Gillie

G$ | B-More, MD | 04/22/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I've heard Gillie on a few songs over the past 7 or so years, and he really just became more widely known outside of his Major Figgas click/fanbase due to his Lil Wayne ghsotwriting controversy while he was signed to Cash Money Records (which you can tell easily from listening to his rhymes is something that is true). With 14 songs on the album, Gillie brings you the best of his mixtapes. I'd have to say, most of the songs I heard him on previously I was pretty impressed, so when I saw he had a best of his mixtapes album coming out I checked it out and was somewhat disappointed. Only 14 songs, 2 Gillie isn't even on, and really only 7 of the 14 are good, 5 are ok, and 2 I skip over. Guests are also pretty heavy and mostly his Major Figgas click (Dutch, Spade, Bump). Production is up and down as well. Ruggedness does 5 songs, Felony & Pop Traxx each do 2 songs, Jay Burnz, Ice Drake, Don Grove, Mike City, and Nyce Boy each do 1 song. A nice album for his fans to have but otherwise I'd probably pass this one by.



#1 - 8.5

#2 - 9 (Spade solo -- tight beat)

#3 - 6.5 (f/ Dutch)

#4 - 5.5

#5 - 8 (f/ bump, Ab Liva)

#6 - 8 (f/ Bump, Dutch)

#7 - 6.5

#8 - 7 (f/ Dutch, Spade)

#9 - 6.5 (f/ Dutch, Bump)

#10 - 9 (f/ Dutch, Bump -- great ebat)

#11 - 7.5 (Dutch solo -- real tight beat and hook but his rappin' lacks on this one)

#12 - 8

#13 - 5.5 (f/ Dutch)

#14 - 8.5 (f/ Bump, Ab Liva)



F. Nasir -- Philadelphia, PA

check all my reviews"