Kevlaar 7 "Unbutton Your Holsters" The Mixtape

[IronFingaz7]

Kevlaar 7 "Unbutton Your Holsters"




00 - Unbutton Your Holsters [Remix] [Produced by Woodenchainz]
01 - Blood Diamond [featuring Phillie] [Produced by Bronze Nazareth]
02 - Tarantula's Web [Produced by Bronze Nazareth]
03 - Get Down Wit Me [featuring Inspectah Deck] [Produced by Kevlaar 7]
04 - Start the Show [featuring Chi King & 12 O'Clock] [Produced by Kevlaar 7]
05 - Final Dark Sip [Produced by Kevlaar 7]
06 - Can't Stand to Wake Up [Remix] [featuring The Wisemen] [Produced by Kevlaar 7]
07 - Interlude
08 - Harsh Winds [featuring Iron Fingaz & Crucial the Guillotine] [Produced by Illy Vas]
09 - Suicide Watch [featuring Merc Versus & Illah Dayz] [Produced by Woodenchainz]
10 - Suns & Daughters [featuring Bronze Nazareth] [Produced by Kevlaar 7]
11 - Sacrifice [Interlude] [Produced by Woodenchainz]
12 - 3 Kings [featuring Hell Razah & M-9] [Produced by Endemic]
13 - Now or Never [featuring Solomon Childs, Son One, & 5 Star] [Produced by Kevlaar 7]
14 - The Prelude [Freestyle] [featuring Killah Priest] [Produced by Kevlaar 7]
15 - Much Too Soon [Produced by Kevlaar 7]
16 - Lesser Sorrows [featuring June Megalodon & Phillie] [Produced by Kevlaar 7]
17 - Gun Sonnet [Produced by Bronze Nazareth]
18 - Interlude [Produced by Kevlaar 7]
19 - Nothing to Hide [featuring Bronze Nazareth & Salute] [Produced by J $crilla]
20 - Streets is my Home [featuring Bronze Nazareth & Sav Killz] [Produced by Kevlaar 7]
21 - Evil Eye [featuring June Megalodon & Illah Dayz] [Produced by Incise]
22 - Pathways [featuring Illah Dayz] [Produced by White Lotus]

Disc 2

23 - Unbutton Your Holsters
24 - Indebted
25 - I Am Trouble [featuring Bronze Nazareth & Salute]
26 - Illah on the Fly [Freestyle] [featuring Illah Dayz]
27 - Nothing Like It [featuring The Wisemen]
28 - Chief Pontiac [featuring Beace]
29 - Live From... [featuring Bronze Nazareth]

What ya'll think?

P.E.A.C.E.
-Noble Scity-
-Crucial the Guillotine-Gripz-Illy Vas-Iron Fingaz-Kaotny-

[Steel-City Passion]

Suicide watch is one of the best wu related tracks done by anyone in years...the production is immaculate the whole way through! I just made a wisemen greatest hits cd and like 10 of 25 joints are from here

[GHOST DISCIPLE]

Suicide watch is one of the best wu related tracks done by anyone in years...the production is immaculate the whole way through!

I agree!! That track is pure FIRE!

Wish I had in on my Ipod right now, but I guess I have to wait till I receive my copy from Amazon

[the silencer]

this is nothing short of a feast for those who enjoy quality hip hop...thirty tracks long with a few interludes (which all have sick beats) and it all showcases the amazing producing and especially LYRICAL talent of Kevlaar 7..

[since it's a mixtape--and a long one-- i decided to make the font size smaller on tracks we may have heard a bunch of times already and bigger on the main highlights of the tape...]

it's a double disc with the first one featuring all original production, most of it from Kevlaar and the second disc is more mixtape-y with Kev and friends (the Wisemen) chewin up some more well-known instrumentals..



Disc 1

0. Unbutton Ya Holsters (Remix)
performed by Kevlaar 7
produced by Woodenchainz

dono why it starts with track zero but anyway...this track is dirty, grimey, BANGIN hip hop at it's finest..both the lyrics and beat get me hyped as fuck, not tryin to blaspheme but it reminds me of "Ain't Nothin to Fuck Wit" in the ass-kickin energy it brings..

(what amazes me tho is that it's a REMIX..Woodenchainz did this so perfectly to create an entirely new song with a whole diff tempo from the original..i like the first one but this one is hard as concrete and powerful as a bazooka...GREAT way to jump off..)

5/5


1. Blood Diamond
performed by Kevlaar 7 and Phillie
prod by Bronze Nazareth

(from my Academy review) over a smooth, somehow equally calm-and-passionate at the same time Bronze beat, Kevlaar 7 and Phillie poeticize dopely...

Kevlaar's verse is sick (and im gonna break it down soon) employing a crazy writing style that Inspectah Deck used to bring out occasionally where each line is using the same rhyme sound and it sounds like he's speakin from the perspective of a diamond, peep this:

"Reachin the tippin point, my vision is bendin'"
a stigmatism, fittin rusty razors thru prisms"

and next up Phillie comes thru and his verse, honestly, might be one of the best performances on the whole album...I've been up down on Phillie's rhyme skills in the relatively few songs I've heard him in (altho I thought he owned that "Detroit Taliban" track) but he is undoubtebly nice on this joint, not to be fucked with..

"Refuse to be a sellout, give in to the system
Brainwashed, the same plot that put most of us in prison"

i love the instrumentation on here, Bronze really has perfected this sampling style, Phillie's most powerful lines are delivered over an emotional drop in the pace of the beat..one of my favs on the mixtape..

4/5

2. Tarantula's Web
performed by Kevlaar 7
prod by Bronze Nazareth

what now might be called a vintage Kevlaar 7 track cuz this one's been out there for a while....but never appeared on an album or mixtape so doesn't hurt to feature it on this tape cuz it's a banger and a sick lyrical performance which was broken down and thoroughly explained by Kevlaar here

the drums are crazy on this track..
4/5


3. Get Down wit Me
performed by Inspectah Deck
prod by Kevlaar 7

the beat is a flat-out mothafuckin BANGER, one of my favorite Kevlaar beats but i've honestly never been crazy with Deck on here...i thought he coulda came much better especially over such a ridiculous beat..

3/5


4. Start the Show
performed by Chi-King and 12 O'Clock
prod by Kevlaar 7

opening with Lefty (Al Pacino) puttin Donnie Brasco in his place..
absolute mothafuckin BANGER, "rip a Kevlaar track that the streets gon' like"---the beat-makin skills on full out display right here as Chi-King and 12 O'Clock stomp shit...one of my fav joints on the tape (on a ill tape!!)

4/5


5. Final Dark Sip
performed and produced by Kevlaar 7

it's between this and Lesser Sorrows which one is my #1 favorite on the tape...the beat is fuckin Beautiful, bangin and sick instruments that paint the background of the song; a hazy, drunken night and the ponderings and happenings (bloody fight, endin up in the hospital/jail) involved..

this is one of those signature Kevlaar-Bronze joints they're becomin known for by now with a sick beat and just ridiculous depth goin into the lyrics....bet that i'll break this joint down in the "Unknown" lyric interpretation thread..

"Intoxicated heart yo, peace to Hank Gathers"

5/5


6. Can't Stand to Wake Up (remix)
performed by Kevlaar 7, Bronze Nazareth, Illah Dayz
prod by Kevlaar 7

first few times i heard this, i actually thought the original (produced by Endemic) was better but this one is definitely growing on me...

Kevlaar's verse is by far the sickest, Bronze's sounds much better on Come to Life Faster, and Illah Dayz is pretty good...the beat actually goes PERFECT with Dayz's verse, much better than the original..

3.5/5

7. interlude
awesome scene with Samuel L. and Travolta in one of my fav movies, Pulp Fiction


8. Harsh Winds
performed by Iron Fingaz, Kevlaar 7, Crucial the Guillotine
prod by Illy Vas


the Corp's own spittin here (all three of them post on here)....i like this joint alot, Kevlaar KILLS it: "These harsh winds carry the stories of blood dryin in the sun"..

original version of this track had a weak, pretty much unbearable verse right before Kevlaar's and thankfully it ain't on here...track is much better like this..

3/5

9. Suicide Watch
performed by Kevlaar 7, Merc Versus & Illah Dayz
prod by Woodenchainz


this joint took a while to grow on me...at first i thought the beat was way too slow but once u get the melody in your head, you crave hearin it...it's smooth and it allows the words to glow..

Kevlaar spits nice and hella poetic ----this is the first time i've heard this Merc Versus and his verse is NUTS.."i write graffiti tag freight trains across the Great Plains"

Illah Dayz sounds like he doesn't belong on this joint at all i don't think..

3/5


10. Suns & Daughters
performed by Kevlaar 7 and Bronze Nazareth
prod by Kevlaar 7


the ridiculously talented brother-duo shining right here....as you'd expect, the beat is nice with sick drums..

"Iraq is Saigon and the red-white-and-blue is the new Klan uniform" there's definitely a strong commentary in this one from Kevlaar in both of his verses which surround Bronze's telling of how he got arrested and accused of robbery (a story he mentioned in The Pain)..
opens up with the actual assailant bustin into somebody's house like "Niggaz i'm tryin to break , the jakes got me"

then you hear what went down: "He opened up on officers, lost his first born, shattered her ribs"

Bronze "kinda looked like 'em but anyway" he's at the lab smokin when the cops bust in and arrest him in his boxers watchin Showtime at the Apollo...
"Detective Barlow said i murked two cops across the block near Joy and Schafer, and robbed two stores later"

Kevlaar's two verses are a commentary (passionate as fuck commentary, and in the second one he's basically tryin to call for an uprising/revolution over the government) and Bronze argues the point basically with a first-person example....great music..

4/5


11. Sacrifice interlude
prod by Kevlaar 7

yet another sick beat and a good opener to the next joint..


12. Three Kings
performed by Hell Razah, M9, Kevlaar 7
prod by Endemic

can't overstate the illness of this joint...when it dropped on that Endemic album/mixtape it was my favorite song on there..beat is nice and Hell Razah is flat-out amazing on here, without a doubt one of THEE illest current Wu affiliates...M9 i've only heard a few songs from but liked em all and he's also good on this track but then Kevlaar comes on with a ridiculous energy and just spittin FIRE..

"12 disciples follow me, hollow tips behind em
tryna find the light that glows from a roach is blindin"

certainly grabs alotta attention spittin this well on a track with a heavyweight like Razah..

5/5


13. Now or Never
performed by Solomon Childs, Son One, 5-Star
prod by Kevlaar 7

off the Almighty album but without M80's verse which i honestly thought never fit on this track anyway....dope beat, dope song

4/5


14.The Prelude (freestyle)
performed by Killah Priest
prod by Kevlaar 7

a Priest freestyle that sounds like it's from around the time The Offering came out and i'm suprised i'd never heard it before now...the beat is amazing, gotta give props and respect for the consistent quality---like Priest does here "Kevlaar you sick with this"
(altho the sound quality is off on this track)

4/5


15.Much Too Soon
performed and produced by Kevlaar 7

I don't like this at all, the original ("Blame it on the Night") is an amazing track, a personal classic and this re-recorded version doesn't come close....the original bleeds passion, almost sounds like he just got home from his friend's funeral when he spit it....this one doesn't hold the same emotional and powerful weight and the beat has been softened up way too much..

2/5, the original is a 5/5 easy


16. Lesser Sorrows
performed by June Megaladon, Kevlaar 7, Phillie
prod by Kevlaar 7

what we been waiting for...the beat is bangin as FUCK with insane drums and bass and Kevlaar jumps on here sounding hungry as a stray dog scroungin on the streets...

"He own the gun that killed Malcolm and the barrel still hot,
we got guilt by possession after this verse my words rot"

my favorite joint on the album, i could listen to this on repeat all day..

5/5


17. Gun Sonnet
performed by Kevlaar 7
produced by Bronze Nazareth

very different, very original beat from Bronze...sounds very dark and cinematic with an unconventional (sounding, expectedly, like loading a gun clip) kick...if it ain't apparent by now, it should be: Kevlaar doesn't ever come with anything but quality lyrically (and beat-wise too certainly) and he rips it again here with mad energy....brief but good

4/5


18. interlude
always sick beats on the interludes too..


19. Nothing to Hide
performed by Kevlaar 7, Bronze, Salute
prod by ??

the original version of this track that had been floatin around is awesome, great smooth beat, great lyrically on each verse....this one is kinda messy...the beat is way off-key and Bronze's verse barely matches the tempo at all..

THIS is the good version and it's a great song:



20. Streets is My Home
performed by Kevlaar 7, Bronze Nazareth, Sav Killz
prod by Kevlaar 7

like Tarantula Web, this one's been around for a while but it's another banger and great showing by Kev both lyrically and on the beat..

the concept is sick, with Kevlaar speaking from the perspective of crack and Bronze that of a homeless man (broke down both in the a-fore-linkened thread)...Sav Killz, i don't like him on here he screams every line..

4/5


21. Evil Eye
performed by Kevlaar 7, June, Illah Dayz
prod by Incise

beat is ehh, but i think Kevlaar gets motivated to spit even better when the quality of the beat isn't that high cuz he's nasty on this joint...don't like the chorus but both verses are good..

3/5


22. Pathways
performed by Kevlaar 7, Illah Dayz
prod by White Lotus

Illah Dayz is seemingly all over this cd....i do like him over this track, he came correct and Kevlaar murdered it as usual...smoke a fatty (or however you blaze) and zone in on this dude's verses, you'll be amazed at the depth and quality he brings EVERY SINGLE TIME..

4/5


23. Unbutton Ya Holsters
performed by Kevlaar 7
prod by DJ Premier

i like the remix better but this is still a nice track..classic DJ Premier shit...I'm amazed tho at how much better the vocals go with the remix beat..

4/5


24. Indebted
Kevlaar 7
prod by Chop Diesel (old banger from AZ's 3rd album)

Kev spittin flames over an old AZ beat...always loved this beat, great choice to spit over, "Rock a jewely crown, disguised as a beggar" sounds familiar...

i love these type of joints from this crew (rappin or freestylin over outside beats) cuz it allows the lyrics to shine..never simple raps

4/5


25. I Am Trouble
performed by Kevlaar, Bronze, Salute
prod by ?

don't like the beat too much but a good track nonetheless cuz the lyrics are sick...Bronze's verse is my favorite, "My pyramid guarded wit knowledge on how to make a soul float"

3/5


26. Illah on the Fly
performed by Illah Dayz
prod by Kanye West

beat is amazing but i feel like somebody should spit on here alongside or instead of Illah Dayz....he's goin off the dome most of it and talks too much, woulda loved to here a Kevlaar verse over this..

beat is crazy tho, i could listen to it all day
3/5


27. Nothing Like It
performed by The Wisemen
prod by ?

SICK track here, an ill Wisemen cypher...newest Wiseman Beace finally appears on the mixtape and he's awesome on both tracks he features on...take note of this dude cuz he's ill as fuck, it's amazing with this crew cuz none of them are rookies at this shit..you can tell Beace is a vet on the mic....and even tho this is his solo debut, Kevlaar sure as fuck ain't a newbie at this either..He's got a sick verse here too and Phillie shines bright as any of them..

great song..

5/5


28. Chief Pontiac
performed by Kevlaar 7 and Beace

one of the best and most entertaining tracks on the mixtape...this is Beace and Kevlaar goin back to back spittin SICK for 7 MINUTES!

Beace is undoubtebly a master on the mic and shows it here, I'm crazy impressed and blown away by his verses on this track....plus the beat is so smooth and perfect to keep spittin on over and over for so long...

"Kevlaar rhyme on top of stars, spit cosmic wars, popular as Will Coop, behold the pale horse"

what's amazing to me is it sounds alot like they're freestyling off the dome and starting off each verse with the ending of the previous one....but the lyrics are too complex to be spit off the dome i think, had to be written..

Beace has the craziest part:

"My speech is a tantalizing treat
The hill was steep, but i'm happy cuz the top is within reach
grip the golden chalice, retire and toss my wife's salad
In life you gon slip but regain your balance,
my favorite sound is laughter, let the good times roll
bank account on swoll, economic LIBERATION is the goal!"

so much fuckin intelligent material in this track, just great hip hop..

5/5

29. Live from...
performed by Kevlaar/Bronze

appeared on TFF Vol 1 but deservedly showcased here because they both spit crazy verses...

5/5

[MrDiamondFDC]

this is the first time i've heard this Merc Versus and his verse is NUTS.."i write graffiti tag freight trains across the Great Plains"

http://www.myspace.com/ironworkersguild
http://www.myspace.com/mercmeanskill

[Merc Versus]

Yo, Silencer...would you review our CD?

[IronFingaz7]

Mixtape is definitely ill! Favorite tracks are Suns & Daughters and Gun Sonnet. Wait for that "Die Ageless" solo album!

8. Harsh Winds
performed by Iron Fingaz, Kevlaar 7, Crucial the Guillotine
prod by Illy Vas


the Corp's own spittin here (all three of them post on here)....i like this joint alot, Kevlaar KILLS it: "These harsh winds carry the stories of blood dryin in the sun"..

original version of this track had a weak, pretty much unbearable verse right before Kevlaar's and thankfully it ain't on here...track is much better like this..

Good looking yo. Appreciate the love. Yeah, we "thunderclapped" that dude off the track so to speak. Loyalty and honor is number 1 and dudes couldn't live up to that so its whatever.

Check out the extended version with Illy Vas & Kaotny at either of these sites

www.reverbnation.com/noblescity
www.reverbnation.com/ironfingaz

P.E.A.C.E.
-Noble Scity-
-Crucial The Guillotine-Gripz-Illy Vas-Iron Fingaz-Kaotny-

[Noyz]

Finally got a chance to really digest the mixtape. Heads are really sleeping on this! Favorite tracks are 'Unbutton Your Holsters' Remix and 'Suns and Daughters'. Plenty of Wisemen guest spots, which is always a plus, and the production bangs on every track. One thing I liked about this tape more than Thought For Food was that there were fewer industry beats. Not to knock TFF though, because those were both dope. "Die Ageless" should be sick!

[NinjaSpiT]

Tarantulas Web.

[3rdEyeVizion]

Just orderd this. Can't wait to hear it

[Kevlaar 7]

appreciate all the love & support ya'll...