Retrospective

Good times & rhymes rewound Retrospectively

Daniel Belles, Tacoma Live Music Examiner
June 26th 2011

You've probably heard of the big guy know as Fat Boi Fresh around this town. With a grind to match his weight and the swagger to keep it fresh he goes by the name of Retrospective. Retro recently released his latest mixtape, "Bobby's World 2" with DJ Turigity on the randomn drops. His mixtape is a party of freestyles and previously released songs mixed in with instrumentals from some of the most popular songs of the current hip-hop scene. As DJ Turigity declares many times throughout, "This is a real mixtape!" Not only is the entire tape a mix job that would make even Sir Mix-A-Lot jealous, its a collague as referenced by its cover. The cover looks like someone broke out their magazine and went wild with their scissors. The mixtape sounds just like it with a collague of sounds, beats, and rhymes all rewound Retrospectively.
Its intro is just that. On an 80's beat DJ Turgity starts things off getting his Flavor Flav on before a set of Fat Boi Fresh introducing himself a live show is scratched. It quickly moves to "Makin Love to My Mind" where on a Cash Money beat, Retro reflects on the obsession of a female on a guy's mind. He follows with his version of the popular Clipse song "Kinda Like a Big Deal" before mixing his previous single "Front of the Lines" with the beat of Ace Hood's "Hustle Hard." With both he claims that he is definitly not a figure to be messed with in this town moving to the "Front of the Lines" of this game. "StarLife" follows where a mix of seemingly auto tuned chrous meets a rhyme asking for a game that meets the old days of MTV with some off key bars done on purpose to demonstrate how far off the train we've fallen off. "Mr. Cool" describes his composure despite what the haters say as the track is completley cut down with the scratching. After Retro rap-sings "Like Whoa" describing how he hits you he gets into his version of Wale's "Pretty Girls" where he romances a woman working at a drive-thru window. On the next track the romance has already gone sour as she just won't shut up on "Boo Hoo Hoo." Things heat up like the sun next with a hot collab with R&B singer Jumpanewz when Lloyd's "Feeling Myself" is changed to "To All My," an ode to all his ladies. Fat Boi then takes the bravado of a beat from a recent Ice Cube hit to proclaim that if you "DisLike Me on the Facebook" that it really won't faze him because you'll be "liking" him later. Next, on probably the most overused beat right now, Rick Ross' "BMF," Retro puts down a freestyle with a chilling line that "your not industry if your not in the streets." Fat Boi then breaks down the beat to Dr. Dre's recent anthem to weed called "Kush" to a song exploring his roots called "I Was Just a Fat Boi." More than anything, it shows his humbler side that before he became a town figure he was just another guy that just rapped. The content gets serious next on a J. Dilla beat called "Critical" where Retrospective pulls a Lupe Fiasco and goes in on the political scene and the need to really concentrate on oneself and not politicians that don't care. Finnaly the closing track is a combination of "Fresh Like Shoes" where he freestyles that he's fresh like a pair of you know what's before finnaly closing on a stream of "Thank Yous," which I have to admit I was touched when Q Dot, Juice Radio and myself were part of the parade. Appreciate the support Bobby! After the last shout out is uttered Fat Boi puts a laugh on that had me falling out of my chair so hard I hit myself and tape is done!
Retrospective's "Bobby's World 2" is exactly what it says on the tin. It's a collague first and foremost and shouldn't be taken seriously for current work. It's an ode to the old days of hip-hop when rappers scratched more than they rhymed and yelled out more than they rhymed. When it all was one big party back in its heyday before it all got serious. Fat Boi Fresh has the talent to make a serious record but he chose to litterald have fun with this one and give it to you for free. He's a real artist and despite how much a DJ on a mixtape annoys me I bounced the whole way through!
To download and listen this tape visit: http://fatboifresh.bandcamp.com/ and make sure you catch him tonight at Rendezvous at the Jewel Box Theater in Seattle for his show "All Black Birthday Bash" featuring Kevin James, Jumpanewz, Bigg Banks, Fame Rilla and DJ Mixhap! It's just $5 but its only for the 21+ I'll be in attendence celebrating my birthday if that gets you out of the house!
To tell Daniel Belles (D-Money) about your album or mixtape for him to review it please email him at city_guy3@hotmail.com or contact him at Facebook at www.facebook.com/dmoneyoffical.
- Daniel Belles, Tacoma Live Music Examiner (Examiner.com)