Treasure And Midknight

On the mixtape, Treasure takes a critical position on authorship – a Postmodern art concern— by rapping over familiar tunes and calling them Me Verses. Here’s my theory;
The inherent pun in the title references, in the first instance, Treasure’s personalizing of the already-made songs (Me Verses could mean, in Hip-hop slang, My Verses). Providing his versions on what are probably his favourite songs, and a new perception/ interaction formed for his audience, of the song, with him as the central figure this time.

The next instance involves him personifying the mixtape as the antagonist in a [rap] battle of sort and confronting it as such— Therefore, Me Versus… the Mixtape (a pronouncement he actually makes). But more metaphysically, Treasure could have been taking his mentors on—performing a ‘murder’ Oedipal in nature (only this time there is more than one father figure). Similarly, Me Verses could be a tribute to Treasure’s ‘father-figures’— the metaphor requires him to outdo himself and emerge victorious, lyrically.

A thorough absorption of the Mixtape reveals Treasure’s influences— B.I.G, Jay-Z, Nas. Taking the liberty to queue the actual songs with those of Me Verses, two realizations occurred:
He was not far from victory, lyrically (i.e. If victory means a successful homogenization of all of his influences into the Treasure Chest identity)
The nerve of this guy to spit over ‘Dead Presidents’ and lay it down like that is absolutely commendable—mind you, some of the so-called mainstream Hip-hop artists lack such appetite for excitement.
For the hardcore Hip-hoppers, if the aggressive ‘Allure Verse’ doesn’t do it for u try ‘Profit Verse’ or ‘So Ghetto Verse’ or maybe even ‘Angels Verse’.

Honoring Hip-hop education and classics are ‘Hip Hop 4 eva’ and ‘Dead Presidents Verse’. A breeding ground for nostalgia, ‘Hip Hop 4 Eva’, functions as the mixtape’s raison d’être. Treasure takes us through the times, from the days of the Fat Boys, ‘Hiphop Hurray’, to Doug E Fresh, De la Soul, KRS, to Gold chains, British Knights shoes, Adidas track suits and “carries on tradition which is spittin”, not forgetting to employ the one quintessential element of DJ-ing—the cuts or ‘scratches’.

For the bad broads, the smooth ‘Coolie High Verse’ will stir wild thoughts in your mental while dishing out some of that gangsta lovin’. ‘Dear Mama’ and ‘Fear Verse’ come with laidback thought-inspired reflections; “…plus I already know that I am better/ but no labels gettin’ at me with a million dollar letter”, “… hit the mall, spend money/ never shopping out the window”.

‘Drop the world Verse’ might flaw in the area of production but that’s for those who are critical where listening is concerned. The verses were at times muzzled by elevated pitches in the instrumental, thereby staining the song with an amateurish feel to the production.

The ‘Zulu-turned-stunna’ makes it look easy on Me Verses. The witty rapper switches styles to suit the mood and flow of the song. He bridged Old school rap with contemporary Hip-hop producing a quality mixtape comparable to any of such in mainstream rap; Back to the Future, The Miseducation of Freddie Gibbs, Life After Graduation, The Warm Up and The Mixtape about Nothing (both of whose references are more subtle) are examples of mixtapes that have made similar comments on the past and the present inadvertently reiterating the former’s significance. - Is Ur Boy