Don Cerino - Nothing In Life Is Free
Awwwwwwwwwwwww man! This post has been a hell of a long time coming right? When I
started this blog I originally meant to keep the goods coming and to keep my shit updated, but for anybody who knows me, shit never really turns out how I planned. A lot of shit changed, made two moves, had to get shit in order for school, got a job, quit a job, got another job and got another job. Had to get the internet, then my laptop broke (fuck a motherboard), turned 19 and now shit is semi-straight (and it only took half a year!). Anyway, fuck the drama and let's get into some good ol' hip hop music.
Don Cerino - Nothing in Life is Free (Hosted by Mr. Peter Parker)
Cerino's Nothing in Life is Free's first actual track is the appropriately titled, Hubert Daviz produced Intro Track Cerino properly chooses to use his intro to give the unaware an idea of who this Italin kid from the heart thinks he is.
"Track one, attempt to attract more fans/ start with a prank then advance my plans....Question if nothing in this life is free/then how you listening to someone as nice as me?/ Released a CD without making a dollar/Praying and hoping that label's will Holla/I mean this...."
The production by relatively unkown, Hubert Daviz, is a light
and piano laden with theme-fitting cuts from Nas, Mos Def, and Common
(to name a few) which set boom-bap feel for most of the album's other
23 tracks.
At the end of Intro Track we hear a clip from DJ Premier co-signing Cerino, which picks up on the Preemo produced D&D Dreams. As predicted the track production is flawless and although it lacks the bass and grimyness of your typical Premier produced joint, it's light medley of percussion and woodwinds still creates an instrumental you can nod to. In accordance Cerino doesn't lack in the rhyme department as he states:
" The pen is my weapon/the Bronx's where I'm reppin'/Yes, eyes on ya Nike's so you can watch where you steppin'..../I'm an animal/No barks, but actual grammatical/Puttin' in the work while the other's take sabbaticals/A Cannibal/But not because I'm eatin' people spittin'/'Cause I'm evil, full of myself, It's the reason I'm the shit and.../"
Music for Life Part 2, borrows it's beat from the hypnotizing Hi-Tek track Music for Life. While the beat is borrowed, Cerino makes it sound as if he owned it from the first place as he spits about his life and getting signed along with Kyle Jeeda.
The joint that first got me interested in Cerino is the ReaLson produced, I Love Hip Hop. Throughout the trap there's a constant cut of "I love hip hop" as D Minor sings the hook. It is this track where Cerino let's a more intimate side of himself show.
"I love hip hop and I ain't talkin' all this rap/the culture, the
artform, and more than that/It's life style, I'm standin' where I'm at
right now/In the street, right crowd, look at this white child/ Talkin'
like he knows the ghetto and like he knows the hood/I'm a middle class
bastard that's misunderstood..."
Cerino goes on to express his disdain for the state of hip hop today (according to Cerino it's been made a joke out of) all the while professing his eternal love for her while forseeing that most cat's love for hip hop will die down as time passes if they don't learn their history and respect the art .
I'd most def. like to go into detail about at least 10 more of the the albums 25 tracks but I've got more hip hop to kick to the world. With that being said other highlights of the mixtape are Assertive featuring Reef the Lost Cause, Money, Money Money featuring Silent Knight & Raks One, The Statik Selektah produced Hypocrites, and the Illmind produced joint My Life. Aside from a two or 3 uneccesary tracks (Intro to the Past for starters) Cerino's Nothing in Life is Free would make a solid album which makes it an exceptional mixtape. Free from 106th and park endorses, Illmind endorses, him, Phonte endorses the kid, DJ Premier co-signed the dude, Statik Selektah is feeling the dude so feel obligated to give son a spin... besides, the best things in life tend to be free.
7/10
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