It's A New Mixtape from Hollywood Holt

Today's post comes courtesy of frequent SiS writer Eavvon O'Neal, and his thoughts on the new mixtape from Chicago's own Hollywood Holt.

The difficulty with mixtape criticism some believe is that you should be able to separate the emotional attachment to the dubbed track, to properly analyze the skill of the artists over a borrowed beat. I think that's bullshit. I think the best part of a mixtape is seeing how an artist vibes with a track they love and recreates it, molding it, and making it their own. Syntax and personalized dictum come into play in a major way, but more significant if the atmosphere that’s created. It’s kind, it’s about the love of the game, and Hollywood Holt's Holt Goes To Hollywood is homage to that love of Hip-Hop.

Holt comes from Chicago, which is pretty deeply involved in Hip-Hop's change in sound. Deeper soul, and more a rapidly alternating pattern of rhymes, showcases the flavor created from the Midwest. And as much as people would like to claim that Chicago is new to the game, the same instinct, and celebration that created & grew Hip-Hop in on the East and West, has always been present there as well. This mixtape illustrates that, but may be overlooked. Tracks that should call attention are "Caked Up" and "Come To Me". With these tracks, Holt moves outside the pre-constructed rhythmic boundaries and associations that could be transferred from the original tracks, making eat beat his own. He falls into this trap, of mimicking the vocal patters used on the original version of "Holla At Me", but his rendition is still a credible attempt. It's not Lil' Wayne, but just the undertaking is merit enough. There are also a few tracks with a few Feist vocals that are pretty genius. "Feist Hearts Hollywood Holt" is impressive simply by its existence. The only other Feist mixtape track I've ever heard is owned by Lupe, so that should say something about where Holt and producer Mano's heads are.

Holt's lyrics are simple, allowing a staccato like flow at times, but can be upped to higher ranges of complexity, seemingly on a whim. He draws from the energy and vibrance of his peers, those busting out of Chicago now, most notably the Cool Kids. He claims he's the greatest rapper ever, and while that is not true now, with a few proper releases, that feeling could prove to be astounding intuition. Which means, Holt goes to Hollywood now, but wont be stopping there.

Download: Holt Goes To Hollywood [Here]