Lil Reese, ‘Supa Savage’ – Mixtape Review

If you listen to Lil Reese's latest release 'Supa Savage,' it's clear to see that drill-music isn't going away any time soon. In fact, over the past year and a half or so it's become an official subgenre within hip-hop.

Produced by folks like Leek E Leek, Yung Lan, Natural Disaster and others, 'Supa Savage' is full of heavy bass, eerie synthesizer sounds and plenty of lyrics about guns and street-life--which are the usual ingredients that make up drill-music.

From the start, Lil Reese lets listeners know where he comes from and what the overall tone of the project is going to be with these menacing lyrics:

"Supa Savage, my whole squad is Supa Savage, we keep them ratchets just in case the s--- gets tragic," he says on the title song.

And things pick up from there when guests Waka Flocka and Wale accompany Reese on the song 'No Lackin, Money Stakin,' as all the rappers do a good job of staying true to the song's concept of getting wealth by any means. Plus, listeners will be treated to a strong verse by Waka, as it seems he's getting better at wordplay and changing up his flow whenever necessary.

Unfortunately, Lil Reese doesn't do the same, which makes 'Supa Savage' sound like one long song, which could be bad for the listener who likes each cut to sound different.

If you listen to songs like 'Waddam,' featuring Fredo Santana, and to 'What It Look Like,' featuring Chief Keef, you'll notice very little difference in terms of sounds used and the overall feel of the song.

However, some might say that's what drill hip-hop is, lyrics about gang-life over one type of sound, so why should each song sound different?

The folks who feel this way will undoubtedly like 'Supa Savage' and appreciate songs like 'Irrelevant,' featuring Johnny May Cash, where Reese raps about ignoring the doubters, naysayers and negative people who talk bad about him.

And on 'What It Look Like,' Reese and Chief Keef spit threatening raps over pounding keys that work well together, but again, that's only if you don't mind the same sounds being used over and over.

Basically, 'Supa Savage' is one of those projects that will most likely be appreciated by those who like drill-music, because it does stay true to its style. The release also gives listeners of the subgenre what they want--gritty lyrical content over keyboard driven beats.

But those who aren't fans of drill probably won't jump for joy after listening to this project, because it does lack variety, and in most cases variety is good. It all depends on what musically floats your boat.

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Listen to Lil Reese's 'Supa Savage' Mixtape