Misc. Day – Cheetah Print Guts

Something about the prosperity of music through the internet is fascinating, the way that artists can connect ideas from entirely different parts of the world and form these stages that were once thought impossible. To see Richmond, Virginia which would have never been on the map as a Pittsburgh native, now as an underground staple of hip-hop that shined along with the likes of heavyweights. With Lil Ugly Mane, he created a saga that even still amazes but also confuses on the spectrum of sound.

THREE SIDED TAPE VOLUME ONE is the introductory handshake into the strange pouring faucets of internet rap where finding musical gold was better than the physical treasure. Stumbling upon Lil Ugly Mane’s BandCamp page back in high school was almost as if the gates of metaphorical heaven had opened. The layout, the strange allusions to texts, and the rhyme schemes; it was all there from Lil Ugly Mane’s inner thoughts. The allure has now disappeared and there is a face to Ugly Mane, having shot his concerts, met him, seen his Instagram, and now finally reached the point where other artists are crossing over into his stratosphere of sound. There is not that big real mystery behind Lil Ugly Mane like there was in 2012, but that does not mean that the fun of discovering his music has gone away.

With THREE SIDED TAPE VOLUME ONE, each replay takes it back to blaring the record on a burned CD from my dad’s computer in the 1998 Buick Century. Days that are long gone, but somehow hold sentiment into who I am now. From the flashy work of “forever i b stangin(*polo right first version)” where the 808 claps paired up with the shiny production still snaps back like a fully loaded choppa. As Lil Ugly Mane describes, “If ya see me in ya hood, I’m up to no good. Got the SK bangin’ ya I wish a hater would” which then quickly transitions into track seven “can sex me(tru freek bmore edition)” where Ugly Mane has no vocal appearance over a trancing beat.

That is why these three chapters of the THREE SIDED TAPE VOLUMES are such vital pieces of music history. They directly hold this essence of creativity to music where making something that resembles the artist was more important than money ever was. THREE SIDED TAPE VOLUME ONE is the perfect driving record, the perfect piece for a Sunday morning that holds as much veracity as it needs to be considered rap by some, but more of a masterpiece by more.

This is the enigma of an artist that holds themselves up in a room for months but emerges anew, establishing direct flow of consciousness within that room. It was a star room where nothing but the cerebrum and medium flows, creating flops in some, or musical gold in others.

Listen To THREE SIDED TAPE VOLUME ONE Here!!! – BandCamp