Oy, Bumbershoot. I'm still hurtin' from—among other things—being waaay up in the front to watch Lupe Fiasco and Wu-Tang, who both delivered world-class performances. Seriously—amid all the fuckery of the crowd, the phrase "too old for this shit" never crossed my mind. I was close enough to see J. Moore introduce the acts, too; he and J.Pinder were in the wings soaking it up the whole time. You'll remember a couple weeks ago I said Pinder's mixtape Backpack Wax was hot crack with cheese; you might've also heard that Pinder has parted ways with Sportn' Life Records. Both statements are true. Point is tho, I gots to thinking about some other sick mixtapes that dropped this year.
First off, I've been remiss in not bigging up The Greatest Fuckin' Adventures of Bruce Illest, the solo debut mixtape/street album of Bruce Illest from Mash Hall (aka djblesOne of the almigh-tee Massive Monkees crew), one of my most played 206 releases this year. Off the top, Bles/Bruce is my homey and collaborator (peep his slap-your-momma production on the upcoming Cancer Rising EP). But more than that, he's one of the most fun MCs in town to listen to. Bruce's slightly mushmouthed, fuck-all-y'all "West Coast Royalist" swag is authoritatively b-boy and unfailingly hilarious. In town, I'd say nobody outside of the Saturday Knights have anything on his hiphop's sense of humor. Twenty-eight tracks deep, Greatest Fuckin' Adventures also brims with Bles's nonstop golden-era homages; slick remakes of "You Gots to Chill," "Mona Lisa," "New Jack Hustler," and "P.S.K." dot the track list like shell-toes hanging from power lines. Hit up Platinum Records or www.mashhall.com to get your fix of dope.
I also gotta shout out my man Rik Rude and his Cigar Rockstar mixtape. Rude is another charismatic, style-heavy MC you need in your life; his scattershot, big-picture mosaic rhyme style has quickly made him a favorite among heads in town (including Charles Mudede). "I'm feelin' like a thousand dollars in the '80s," Rude declares, bearing that heavy touch of '86 that, like Bles, keeps him fresh and original at all times. Thirty-two tracks ill, Rockstar finds Rik ripping tracks from dope locals Boop Nice and P.Smoov with the same spaced intensity as he does on ganked MF Doom and Dilla instrumentals. His all-over-the-rap-map inflection and fresh slang make him hard to compare; if you need a reference point, picture shades of Wu-Tang with Bay Area game. Point is, he's nothing nice, as if that isn't clear when he proclaims, "I wanna start a rap group with O.J. and Ray Carew!" To cop this one, hit up Laced Up on Pike and see if they still have copies.
Lastly, I can only hope that by the time you read this, 50 Cent's promise to quit "rapping" if Kanye West's Graduation outsells his album Curtis in the first week have come gloriously true. Pray. 
