Altered Zones

Somewhere around the same week I first peeped ASAP Rocky, Noz posted some shit by Frankenstein on Tumblin Erb. This Rappin' Ass Nigga mixtape has some clever flows by one Shakir Givens from Los Angeles. The whole length is mixed up between Frankenstein raps and his shitty alter-ego mitchgonenorth-- who is jokingly referred to as the superior rapper-- but mitchgonenorth's raps are so disjointed (and rarely over a beat) that I skip 'em. Frank himself goes in with his enthused mid-to-up-tempo flow, dropping deep NBA references (Rod Strickland "number one with a Bullet"), deep Cartoon Network references (Ed, Edd & Eddy), and generally fucking with content you'd expect a teenager to be stoked on. Oh right, and he's 17 years old. And no, the Odd Future talking point for young rappers nowadays ain't rare so Frankenstein gets that out of the way early at the end of his track "20/20," rambling on some "don't nobody want another Tyler the Creator."

Unfortunately, I admit inability to name the instrumentals or know if Frankenstein himself produced any of 'em, but he's mostly seen on half-laid-back, lower fidelity beats stringing together abstract lines that are more easily digestable over a blunt or two. Frank is most effective on "Cul de Sac," whose slaps remind me of "Ice Cream Paint Job" with a more grizzly Pill beat. Dude goes hard on the opener, calling out stalled-out artists: "This is where it ends, welcome to the cul-de-sac/ Say you got drive, but nothing to show for that" right before dropping one of my favorite one-liners-- "Fuck a masseuse, I don't hold back." --Ian Paul Roger Nelson, Friendship Bracelet

MP3: Frankenstein: "Cul de Sac"

Rappin' Ass Nigga is now available for free download