Respect Authority

In a particularly brilliant display of clairvoyance, I featured mindfucking mixtape up and comers The Hood Internet in last week’s Be Shareful column. Well yesterday afternoon, when I finished listening to every song they’ve ever created and was at a loss as to what I would listen to next, I headed over to their blog and have since spiraled even further into the depths of addiction because of it.

The Chicago-based duo premiered their third mixtape on Monday in a unique display of nonexistant pre-release hype, particularly compared to the kind of press Girl Talk got leading up to the release of this summer’s Feed The Animals. With the kind of work these guys are putting in though, it’s only a matter of time before there isn’t a loft in Williamsburg that hasn’t heard of them, so get downloading now or you’ll be more passé than your dork ass wayfarers.

While the album isn’t necessarily their far and away best effort yet, it’s certainly the most creative of the three and easily holds its own next to their previous releases. Additionally, The Mixtape Volume Three is the longest of their full lengths, clocking in at a monstrous 34 tracks long, spanning perhaps the most diverse array of samples The Hood Internet have ransacked yet. It probably also breaks some record for number of Lil’ Wayne appearances, and would come close on the T. Pain front as well if not for mainstream hip hop, which currently requires songs to feature a T. Pain vocal to be considered part of the genre.

The Mixtape Volume Three’s primary weakness is that it doesn’t feel quite as balanced as its two predecessors. There are some songs that drag, and slower spots are more apparent than they were on the others. Consistency aside however, the high points on this album are Green Dragon high and are many in number. Seriously, this album contains some of the most original mashups I’ve ever heard. The Hood Internet reinvent songs like mad scientists and are working the billows on the burned out mashup scene.

For example, the ODB classic “Got Your Money” mash with White Williams’ “Smoke” may be the closest we as a species ever come to creating the perfect sound.

The mixtape really begins relentlessly picking up momentum a little before the halfway point, and then it basically goes Indiana Jones boulder chase scene and steamrolls the fuck over any doubts that these two aren’t dark sorcerers who made a pact with Lucifer in exchange for an inhuman power over music (or are perhaps cyborgs… something weird though, that’s for sure).

Towards the end of the album, there is a “Kryptonite” by the Purple Ribbon All-Stars vs Ghislain Poirier’s “Blazin’” blend appropriately titled “Blazin’ Kryptonite” that’s not only assured to make you want to get another ticket to the rock show, but also a great description of the album as a whole. This shit would even make Superman’s knees get weak on the dance floor and that dude’s a stud.

The Mixtape Volume Three is currently available for fucking free on The Hood Internet’s website. These people are real philanthropists. Forget the Barack Obamania, The Hood Internet are the change I can believe in.