Artist: Theophilus London
Album: This Charming Mixtape
Genre: Hip Hop
Label: Unsigned 

You know the feeling you get when you throw in an old VHS tape of a cheesy 80’s movie and you notice the terrible clothing and embarrassing music? Those are the same feelings I acquired after listening to Theophilus London’s new mixtape, “This Charming Mixtape.” 

Brooklyn, New York native Theophilus London is a rapper that uses various abstract writing styles over awkwardly sampled beats. Every song features virtually it’s own genre of hip-hop style and sound—so do the lyrics. He writes nerd-like rhymes that express random and incomplete thoughts that probably only make sense inside his own congested skull.  

Apart from completely jacking a track from Lauryn Hill’s catalog, London’s beats raise many eyebrows. The only head-nod beat that was featured on the tape was, “Ain’t No Sunshine” sampled by who? You guessed it…Al Green. Outside of this one song, the rest of his beats feature various pop and rock samples from songs of the 1980’s. All of the samples are easy to identify and show the lack of creativity on London’s part when choosing beats for his mixtape. Layered over these old ballads are spacey-computer noises and untraditional instruments that should never be heard in the hip-hop genre again—trust me.  

And what about that delivery and flow of his? Sounds like a meshed up version of Lupe Fiasco, Pharrell Williams, Andre3000 and Mos Def all rolled up into one if you ask me. If you saw someone describe a new rapper’s style using those four names wouldn’t you jump on the opportunity to pick up their new drop? Think again. 

But who knows? Maybe in twenty years we’ll look back on this mixtape the same way we do with the movie Blade Runner. Obviously Blade Runner is a classic now in 2009, but upon its release, in 1982, the critics hated it. I would not recommend picking this tape up anytime soon, but like wine…it can only gets better with time. Check back in twenty years for a second opinion! 

*Written By: Brandon Folsom*

Score: 5/10

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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