Featured in Clout #9 | Click here to purchase this issue!
Reviewed by J. Anaya

Ras Kass : Revenge of the Spit

The title says it all; Ras comes true with the spit like only he could with more lines than a cokehead’s wet dream. The Jake 1 produced "Last Laugh" and "Fly Shit," produced by XL, are two bangin’ new tracks. Ras and J-Classic have created a great chemistry in the past and it hasn’t stopped here with "Burn This Bitch Down". Only Ras could take a club type record and spit a political message over it and not miss a beat. Keeping with the mixtape essence, Razzy rips up other people’s beats and makes them look bad, like Ras and his Re-Up Entertainment artist NameBrand make Memph Bleek "Be Alright" theirs without question. Ras blasted through "Go Crazy" and left his guest Kweli in the dust. He took a few beats from the Dirty South on "Jackin Tha Dirty" in the same time re-jacking his lost "Home Sweet Home" beat back. Other new tracks include guests such as GZA and Royce Da 5′9 with whom he been having great chemistry with. "Revenge Of The Spit" is the best one man mixtape I’ve ever heart; it’s as complete as you’re gonna get. Spit, flow, lyrics, beats, the right guest and the right DJ for the job! Dow Jones did a great job mixing and arranging this gem, helping solidify Ras as one of the greats.

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Featured in Clout #9 | Click here to purchase this issue!
Reviewed by J. Anaya

Ras Kass : Institutionalized

Fresh out of a two year bid in prison, West Coast royalty Ras Kass returned from life on the run, label turmoil, and two shelved albums whose masters have seemed to have gone on the lamb when he did, to give the world what they’ve been fiending for; a solid album from a true lyricist and spitter. Institutionalized is what you would call a "street album". It’s an album in one sense, but with mixtape antics. Out the gate, Ras gives us that Winter 1996 feeling with "Air ‘Em Out", a banger produced by newcomer J Classic, the X-Clan throwback "Write Where I Left Off" with it’s homonym concept shows why Ras is the cream of the coast with lines like "Still Soul On Ice just put Ice on the Soul". The Jay-Z sampled "Shine" featuring Vis A Vis, is his breakdown of life behind the wall. With a few guest appearances from the likes of Xzibit, Chamillionaire, Crooked I and G-Unit members Young Buck, Spider Loc and 40 Glocc. For the most part it’s Ras the way you love him, spittin’ and proving why "Your favorite rapper is a Ras Kass fan!

Featured in Clout #9 | Click here to purchase this issue!
Reviewed by J. Anaya

Ras Kass : Eat Or Die

Eat or Die is the waterproof MC’s third street album since his release from prison. Following up the solid “Institutionalized” and the spit heavy revenge of the spit, E.O.D. seemed a bit rushed or maybe too eager to get out new material, but still has great joints and plenty of spit as demonstrated on joints like "Jungle Love" with its sample of Grandmaster Flash’s "The Message" and the "Capital" remix featuring Mobb Deep. The shots were fired on the riff’s produced "K.O.T.W.," which would be one of the steps setting the motion for the now rivalry between the King of the West and the West’s Biggest Fraud; if you don’t know, act like you do! The most well rounded track would easily have to be "Better" featuring Re-Up artist Jay 211, whose rapping had been less then sub-par up to this, Jay came nice as ever, proving that hanging with Ras can be good for you. Ras reunites with one time fall out producer the Alchemist on "Get It In" featuring Ras’ best kept secret Namebrand, who proves to be a true prodigy of Ras with a slight remnant of the late Big L as a street album this is good, im pretty sure he’s saving the heavy artillery for his major label debut, which hopefully shouldn’t be too far away.