WE REVIEW: THRU THA SOUTHWEST COMPILATION ALBUM
This mixtape compilation of the Southwest region’s greatest artists and hustlers certainly captured our attention.
Thru Tha Southwest was heavily promoted on social media, especially on Facebook by some of the artists who appear on the album, including Kevin Carrillo, aka Krooked Mindz. Thru Tha Southwest, just as the album’s name states, is a compilation of today’s hottest songs by hip-hop artists from all over the Southwest region, in particular, Arizona. From reading up on previews of the album and some of the hype created by the artists, this album has been long awaited for. With this project, Carillo, who first thought this up, wanted to create a project that would bring his region’s most talented artists together to help boost their exposure and income, all the while representing the Southwest to the fullest. Handfuls of the musicians who are a part of this project who threw their resources and experience into this album see it as something much bigger. Along with showcasing the region’s talented hip-hop artists, the group hopes to build a foundation for other young rappers who wish to join the game and to help them avoid the negativity that some of the Thru Tha Southwest artists have experienced.
This album captures the true essence and elements of the Southwest, or also known as “the wild west” by numerous artists. The appropriately titled Thru Tha Southwest features steady, smooth-flowing beats and deep, meaningful lyrics that are more than just a song to the artist who wrote it. You also catch lyrics that tell you the artist’s struggles of the past and present. After each artist made songs to submit into the album, each track was carefully selected to appear on the album, of all 20 contenders.
A few artists that appear on this album are Transfer, 66 Studios, Fullscale Prod., Lil Playboy AZ, Classik Krooked Mindz, Yaiva, Mr. Flako and many more.
We start the review off with “Broken Rainbow” by Hawk of Full Scale Productions. After hearing a slow song at the start, the artist hits us with a longer-than-usual hook, naming off tribes from all over the country, including his ancestors, the Anasazi Indians. This song excites us because of the fact that we never heard a hook that named off more than 10 tribes before.
We hear artist Transfer speak for his people in “Speak for My People”. The song and lyrics flow together incredibly smooth, including a few verses that are relatable by the reviewer.
Next track up is one of the only R&B songs on the album, “Temporary Love”. The way the singer, GE3, can both sing and flow reminds us of Chris Brown. “Temporary Love” is a chill love song without all the corny lyrics.
Listening to the whole album, we favor each track from all the artists involved in the project. From learning more about this project’s mission and purpose, we fully support each musician and can’t wait for the next collaboration.
[image credit: Kevin Carillo]