These days, people who think the state of "New York hip-hop" should be a pressing concern for all rap fans tend to be seen as joyless scolds or at least something pitiable along the lines of Civil War reenactors. I think they have an underrated sense of humor sometimes. Get past that story about the time they swear they saw Big L at the Pathmark, and they'll likely wax nostalgic about guys like Drag-On, Shabaam Sahdeeq, or G. Dep-- benefactors of Big Apple abundance who, seemingly by proximity, came across enough hot beats, killer guest verses, or dope concepts to briefly separate you from $17.
Meyhem Lauren's new mixtape Respect The Fly Shit comes at no cost, but it feels like a kindred spirit: as evidenced by its production roster (most of the la musica is provided by Harry Fraud) and guest list (Action Bronson, Heems, Roc Marciano, Sean Price), Lauren has some connection to a lot of what's exciting about New York right now. And Respect the Fly Shit is indeed a fairly enjoyable, even quite good mixtape for reasons that have almost absolutely nothing to do with Meyhem Lauren.
Lauren is hardly a bad rapper, just one without much distinction. He pretty much has one kind of hammerhead flow and sounds winded whenever he has to spit at something quicker than a trudge. He also comes off less like an actual person than a search engine optimization program set to "New York Rapper". His first line is, "I ain't bringin' shit back, New York we never left," and within that same verse, he drops phrases like "hardbody," "hustle hard," "fuck hoes, don't cuff 'em," and "invisibly shook." He actually reminds me a bit of guys like Sheek Louch, Uncle Murda, or even 2 Chainz, vets who seem more comfortable in the current hip-hop landscape where "gangsta rappers" aren't bionic ubermenschen, but rather avid Twitter users and allowed to be goofy enough to appear in on their own joke. With every bullishly delivered threat and headslap of a punchline, Lauren takes a crack at the fourth wall and leaves it open to interpretation as to whether you're supposed to be laughing at him or with him. It's about equal. You can practically see the cartoon lightbulb appearing over his Yankee fitted when he calls his producer "Harry Embezzlement" or describing his woman on "Let's Hold Hands" in the absolute least erotic terms possible: "She was the color of an egg bagel/ You know that Simpson complexion/ Her smile caused an instant erection."
I suppose Lauren knows his strengths, though. Respect the Fly Shit is a lean affair, 12 tracks, most of which clock in under three minutes, and it's so chock-full of guest rappers that it can't help but be pretty damn good in spite of itself. Action Bronson's presence looms large over Respect the Fly Shit; he's on about half of it, and most of the titles sound like they could've ended up on his mixtapes anyway ("Pan Seared Tilapia", "BBQ Brisket", "Grown Man Palettes"). If you have no stake whatsoever in Mayhem Lauren, it's basically a Bronson EP. Still, you see how easy it is for Bronson or just about anyone else here to outclass Lauren. His subject matter is no deeper than that of Lauren's -- quite literally, dude's coming up with some of the hottest verses of 2012 just by talking about what he probably had for lunch-- but his tremendous flair for outlandish boasts and tricky cadences (rhyming "peel like an orange" with "leather outfit Martin Lawrence," etc.) colors his personality from the outside in. Otherwise, Smoke DZA, Despot, and Roc Marciano are in typically strong form, Heems continues to evolve with flows that are simultaneously loopier and rawer, RiFF RAFF crashes the party for reasons known only to RiFF RAFF, and on "Grown Man Palettes", Sean Price comes up with one of his best don't-give-a-fuck putdowns: "Type to tote the glock and use gats/ You the type to vote Barack 'cause dude's black."
Fortunately for Lauren's sake, he gets to outshine some of his peers by default: AG Da Coroner is more or less a zombified take on Meyhem Lauren and quite possibly the most inept ad-libber going, and whether you believe Hologram is raising the stakes or lowering the bar to an inexcusable degree, I'll admit he's at the very least setting new standards for graphic blowjob jokes on "Top of the World". (I could tell you how and why he rhymes "Hot Pocket" with "snot rocket," but the tape is free; I'll leave it up to you.) Throughout, the beats of Tommy Mas and Harry Fraud are perfectly suited for the roster involved-- they're plush, but not expensive, rugged but not necessarily raw and completely ignoring any sort of radio-rap currency without being stifling "throwbacks."
It makes Respect the Fly Shit flow effortlessly, though the consistency is more attributable to Lauren himself. You can mix and match any of his verses with these beats without doing much to change the character of any individual song. And that's the issue if you're looking to posit the relative success of Respect the Fly Shit as another win for "New York hip-hop." Lauren has a persona, but not much personality as a rapper. As anyone who heard "Bag of Money" from Dr. Lecter knows, Lauren is way funnier and personable ranting at the end of a track than he is putting rhymes together. Describing an in flagrante moment with a morally casual woman, he stammers, "I was on the wall like I was punished… I had that face of gratification." He explains the jarring shift of "Let's Hold Hands" by announcing, "We do love songs too, man, we love bitches," and the Xs and Os at the end are, "I love you like I love my Polo leather." He continues: "You know how I love that butter soft (I love that jacket)." That's some funny shit. All in all, it explains why we're here in the first place and that's because Respect the Fly Shit at the very least proves that as long as Meyhem Lauren sounds like a cool guy to hang around with, it can make you feel guilty about pointing out how little he brings to the party.
