There’s nothing better than a good mixtape. I’m sure some elitist album-lovers will disagree, but that is insignificant. Mixtapes are unlicensed compilations of various songs that usually share a uniform performer or style. Although they have existed since the late 1960’s, their popularity didn’t shake the music industry until the last 10 or so years; as hip-hop began to gain popularity, so did the mixtape industry. Prominent deejays including DJ Clue, DJ Kay Slay and Tony Touch were able to make a name by cheaply selling their mixtapes—which often contained exclusive performances, freestyles and unofficial remixes. Artists like 50 Cent and Lil Wayne were able to build a career on the popularity of their mixtape performances. The Recording Industry Association of America understandably lashed out at mixtape distributors a few times in recent years because the unlicensed mixtapes were taking profits away from official albums. Nonetheless, the mixtape industry continues to strive as evidenced by the amount of websites that sell mixtapes. Not to mention, artists like Little Brother are beginning to release mixtapes in promotion of their official albums. In present time, mixtapes and official albums are beginning to compliment each other and coexist successfully.

Statik Selektah’s Spell My Name Right (The Album) is an exemplary case of the mixtape world meeting the music industry. Patrick Baril, known to the underground hip-hop scene as Statik Selektah, is a mixtape DJ and producer from Massachusetts. Since the turn of the millennium, he has released mixtapes and aligned himself with hip-hop stars and prodigies like Nas, DJ Premier and Massachusetts’s own Termanology. He also produced a handful of album tracks for underground legends O.C., KRS-One and AZ. In 2007, he decided to start making his name in the legal music industry by releasing the aptly titled Spell My Name Right (The Album). When I heard that he was releasing an official album, I assumed that he would fail; who would expect a mixtape DJ—whose best skill is mixing a rapper’s vocals over a popular beat—to succeed at releasing an album with original music, clean sound and a suitable structure? I clearly did not, but I was proven wrong. Spell My Name Right is a very good album.

Statik Selektah’s debut album can attribute its success to three things: guests, guests and more guests. As Termanology raps on the album’s introductory track, the album features performances by all three D-Block members, KRS-One, Talib Kweli, AZ, Cormega, M.O.P., Kool G Rap, Evidence, Q-Tip and about 10 other more than worthy hip-hop artists. No hip-hop head can deny the potential of an album with half the aforementioned performers. Spell My Name Right is the closest hip-hop has to an all-star game. Even though the album has some unoriginal beats (see “What Would You Do,” “Bam Bam” and “Express Yourself '08”) and lacks the cohesion of any landmark album, it is still an extravagant tour de force. It contains 21 tracks, 15 of which please the listener in one-way or another. One of the album’s flaws is that it is too heavy, but there aren’t too many things to cut out of the album. Sure, there is an unnecessary skit in which the unnecessary DJ Khaled talks and there are some boring guest verses, but the album ultimately leaves a positive taste in your mouth.

Spell My Name Right is responsible for the addition of lots of flat out good songs to my iTunes library. “Stop, Look, Listen” remains the ultimate standout song on this album. Hearing spectacular verses from bards of three hip-hop generations—Termanology, Styles P and Q-Tip—as well as scratched 2Pac and MC Lyte vocals and a beat that never bores, should cause all rap fans to love the song. I feel the similarly about “6 in the Morning,” a hustling track that manages to be exciting and original in both its rapid beat and personal lyrics. Its success can once again be attributed to the collaboration between quality rappers of three different generations. Assuming Statik Selektah decided who would collaborate on each song, he has a great ear for music. He understands the importance of letting rappers perform their personal type of song. Hustler-rappers like Kool G Rap, Joell Ortiz and Sheek Louch perform “6 in the Morning,” while hip-hop pioneers KRS-One, Large Professor and L Da Headtoucha discuss hip-hop history on “Did What We Had to Do.” The result of these collaborations is a lot of good songs with different themes, but little consistency as an album. The songs flow into each other well, there is no reason to include a braggadocios gangster song like “G Sh*t (Showoff Mix)” on the same album with two songs—“Hardcore (So You Wanna Be)” and “Punch Out”—that specifically condemn those types of songs.

Statik Selektah deserves blame for creating a polished mixtape instead of a debut album, but he also deserves props for crafting an overwhelmingly enjoyable compilation. Statik Selektah is not just great at utilizing the talents of guest artists on Spell My Name Right, he is also very good at producing and scratching vocals into songs. A few of his beats contain obvious and overused samples, but most of Statik Selektah’s production is pretty creative and successful. “Punch Out” contains an awesome and fitting loop sampled from the Nintendo game of the same name and “Back Against the Wall” shows that soul samples still go perfectly with introspective lyrics. Nonetheless, “Hardcore (So You Wanna Be)” has to be the best piece of production on the album: Statik Selektah scratches vocals by The Notorious B.I.G. and KRS-One over a catchy horn-driven loop for young rappers Termanology and Reks to rock over. The guest rappers make Spell My Name Right a good album, but Statik Selektah’s great work should not be ignored.

Statik Selektah’s debut album is great for what it is—a compilation of 20 songs by different artists. Unless one anticipates a well-structured and thematically consistent album, they will be pleasantly surprised by Spell My Name Right. The album turned me into a fan of Statik Selektah and young featured rapper Termanology. I recommend the purchase of this polished mixtape and the future works of those two artists.

Track List

1. “Spell My Name Right Intro” (feat. Termanology & DJ Premier) [5 Stars]
2. “Stop, Look, Listen” (feat. Styles P, Termanology & Q-Tip) [5 Stars]
3. “Express Yourself '08” (feat. Talib Kweli, Consequence & Termanology) [4 Stars]
4. ׄ in the Morning” (feat. Joell Ortiz, Kool G Rap & Sheek Louch) [5 Stars]
5. “What Would You Do?” (feat. Freeway & Cassidy) [5 Stars]
6. “Make a Movie (Interlude)” (feat. DJ Khaled)
7. “Bam Bam” (feat. Red Cafe, Termanology & Mims) [3.5 Stars]
8. “G Sh*t (Showoff Mix)” (feat. Uncle Murda, Sev-One, Jadakiss & Termanology) [3.5 Stars]
9. “Back Against the Wall” (feat. Cormega & Royce da 5ֽ”) [5 Stars]
10. “Hardcore (So You Wanna Be)” (feat. Reks & Termanology) [5 Stars]
11. “No Mistakes Allowed (feat. Doug E. Fresh, Tony Touch, Scram Jones, DP-One, DJ GI-JOE, DJ Revolution & Esoteric)” [2 Stars]
12. “Interlude” (feat. Clinton Sparks)
13. “Punch Out” (feat. Big Shug) [5 Stars]
14. “The Good Life (Give It Up)” (feat. M.O.P.) [4.5 Stars]
15. “Big Dreamers” (feat. Reks) [4 Stars]
16. “No Holding Back” (feat. AZ & Cormega) [3.5 Stars]
17. “Got Me Goin' (Hip Hop)” (feat. Slum Village & Granite State) [4 Stars]
18. “Time to Say Goodbye” (feat. Evidence & The Alchemist) [4 Stars]
19. “It’s Over Now” (feat. Termanology & A.G.) [4 Stars]
20. “Talk to Me” (feat. Jon Hope, Reks & Skyzoo) [4 Stars]
21. “Did What We Had To Do” (feat. KRS-One, Large Professor & L Da Headtoucha) [5 Stars]


Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Listening