While the rest of the rap world chases trends, Memphis tends to stand perfectly still. But this is a welcome motionlessness, one that values utilitarian riot music like the second installment of Criminal Manne's Blow series over whatever the hype sound of the minute is in the rest of the nation. (Right now it's not that far removed—Lex Luger's radio bangers are pretty clearly, if indirectly informed by the pre-crunk early Memphis sound). A long standing local vet, Manne waxes hard about haters, not giving a fuck and not giving a fuck about haters. Production-wise, the tape offers a nice inter-generational balance, with duties split right down the middle between rising M-Town workaholic Lil Lody (Rick Ross, Young Jeezy) and longtime Manne co-conspirator DJ Squeeky. Both are frozen in the same moment and both are building strong foundations for Manne to push real Memphis to the top.
Download: Criminal Manne's Blow 2 mixtape
