I’m really like the idea of artists putting out free digital mixtapes to promote themselves. Most of these tapes are good material with borrowed beats. First up is Dom Kennedy (myspace.com/domkennedy) from Leimert Park, California. He has been rapping for about 10 years and says he got his start by carrying the torch from his older relatives and the culture they grew up in. His laid back flow and laid back beat selection makes it for perfect listening on hot summer days which was exactly what I was bumping on my hour commute via Boston’s public transportation to work.

Dom Kennedy’s 25th Hour

Next up is a younger artist by the name of Charles “Sonic the Hedgehog” Hamilton. He’s got DJ Green Lantern, which is one of my most admired mixtape DJs (because he actually DJs), hosting and mixing the tape. Nothing but good old metaphors littered throughout the tape, but he claims that he is not like Lupe Fiasco because you can understand his shit. I doubt hes coming at one of my favorite lyricists of all time, but theres truth in that, hes a little dumbed down version that you can just listen to straight thru and get what hes saying.

Charles Hamilton’s Outside Looking 

Charles Hamilton, The Game, and Kanye West Freestyle

"East, Midwest, West pt. 1"