The Band of the Hawk is a hip hop group that describes themselves as “a southern hip hop crew with east coast lyrical influence and some west coast swag.” On their mixtape #BOHUP, the east coast lyrical influence is very evident on the first track “Meditation,” which has an excellent sample of A Tribe Called Quest’s classic hit “Electric Relaxation.” This track has 90’s hip hop written all over it and as a fan of the Golden Era of Hip Hop, I love it and automatically identify with the sound. The lyricism displayed on this song is real fluid, intricate and in the pocket. You can hear that each lyricist is in a zone and comfortable rapping on the track. The rapping on “Mocean” gives you a UGK and Bone Thugs N Harmony type of vibe. The singing and rapping gel really well on “No Disrespect.” You get hard-hitting raps with melodic singing that can make a couple feel like they’re being serenaded. You can definitely hear the west coast swag on “Burberry,” very reminiscent of Souls of Mischief. Some tracks that really display this group’s creative and imaginative thinking are tracks like “Animals” and “Bruce Lee.” The old school samples on tracks like “Take Your Fro” was done beautiful. Old school flavor meets new school flavor. “Ruckus Hawk Minor” highlights the blaxpoitation feel that is somewhat present throughout the mixtape. The beat continues to play for a couple minutes after the last verse which adds a nice break as the mixtape is closing out. Jeremiah’s singing adds to the already eclectic feel of the mixtape on the bonus track “Wake Up.” No rapping, just singing, something else that provides a little bit of breathing room for the listener. ” On the other bonus track “Redbone” the songstress on there does a great remake of the original “Redbone” song by Childish Gambino. Altogether #BOHUP is a solid mixtape that real hip hop heads and new age rap listeners can vibe out to. If you want to listen to a mixtape that is reminiscent of the 90’s hip hop era combined with the versatile sensibilities of today’s era of rap, go here.

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