I was not one of the first people to get the Ministry of Corruption mixtape by Kahli Abdu when it came out, but after I got it and listened to it, I knew we were dealing with a rare artist and when word came out of a new mixtape I marked my calendar.
The producer/artist formula hardly goes wrong, especially when both of them are eager to show off what they are capable of. Enough bush beating, let’s get into it!
TRACK BY TRACK BREAKDOWN:
1. Bandits Intro – To me this intro sets the tone for the mixtape. Very simple hip hop style beat. And the verse from kahli is literally an intro. Introduces himself to the listeners from 2004 when everything started. This guy is a true story teller. You’ll understand more as the tape goes on. 7.5/10
2. Ghetto of the World – If I were to skip a track on this tape (which I actually don’t) it would be this. I would have said it was an intro, but there’s already that. Actually it’s even shorter than the intro. The lyrics make sense (they always do with Kahli) but the modified voice made it a bit hard to hear. 6/10
3. Cross Country Ft. Endia – First off big ups on the production, Konnect really got the hip hop into this one. This is my 2nd best track on the mixtape, and if you’re from J-town or Lagos you’d immediately connect with this track. “This is for Nassarawa, Ahmadu Bello Way.. We go from Tudun Wada, down to Gold and Base” I’ll say it’s the perfect song to play when you’re driving into your city after being away for a minute or two. “Brothers riding jin chengs like Ducati’s”. On Kahli’s verse you can hear him dropping memories of some experiences in J-town; I thought that was pretty cool. I also heard the video for this will be shot in the two cities. It’ll be epic if they get it right. 8/10
4. Killin’ – Here Kid KonnecT shows off his sampling skills by going at Forever by Drake. I was very impressed by that. Again the beat has a very hip hop feel to it. Even though the track was released as a single before the mixtape, it still holds its ground among the other tracks. Kahli went so hard on this that you would almost think he actually had a hit list 7.5/10
5. Stuck with you Ft. Poe & X.O Senovoe – THIS is my best track on the mixtape. KonnecT dropped a correct slow rap beat and the rappers jumped on it smoothly. The whole premise of the song works very well, talking about a hot chic that is right in every way except that she’s f***ing crazy lol. I’m sure a few of us can relate. I’ll say Poe impressed me the most on this track, his style and flow were very on point “you’ll see some men my uncles age, with Bentley’s just to compensate the fact they take the blue pill, with nothing left to offer babes, except just make it that much harder for a guy to get a date” 8.5/10
6. State of Emergency – The mixtape now switches into serious mode on this track. You know it’s not a Kahli mixtape without a track to remind us not to lose sight of the state of our country. The intro to this track really got to me, sounded like actual audio from the aftermath of a shooting (in jos?). This is another track where Kahli displays his story telling skills.. “I gotta ask where the ammunition comes from, you tryna tell me they snuck it in with soldiers every 100 feet mehn I smell a rat don’t tell us that”. The track sounds like something off of the Ministry of Corruption mixtape. 7.5/10
7. Little Brother – Another story track that will keep you listening till the end, especially when you realize the people Kahli is referring to. I won’t ruin it for those that haven’t listened to it but just know that Kahli speaks his mind (and I mean Church mind) on this track about events that took place with another artist. “Yo this is house cleaning, ama put our laundry out, we going through the stress Biggie Smalls warned about”. The whole story theme of the track makes me think of “Big Brother” by Kanye West. After listening to this you’ll agree that Kahli has been in the game for longer than you thought. I also have to salute KonnecT for the beat, especially that keyboard bit that ends the track. Added a smooth touch to it. 7.5/10
8. Toast – You know when you have an awesome/crazy/adventurous night out of partying, drinking, dancing, etc etc with your hommies and someone makes a video of that entire night, well this track would be the perfect soundtrack to that video. It also has a very mature feel to it, from the beat to the hook (for some reason using toast instead of Pop sounds better to me). It’s definitely a party song (and not necessarily in the dancing sense). Kahli raps about partying with his hommies, VIP chillin, chics… everything that makes a good night. 8/10
9. I’m not a rapper – This track was a very good outro to the mixtape. It actually complemented the intro in the sense that after rapping about where he came from in the intro, Kahli then closes the mixtape by rapping about where his music is now and where it’ll possibly be in the future. Some lines sounded quite angry I must say. By the end of this track I was wondering whether the tape had finished or maybe my ipod just froze. 7/10
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CONCLUSION
The Bandits mixtape was very well composed, from the production to the arrangement of the tracks. Kahli started off with an introduction, he then repp’d his city (Cross country), then his flows (killin’), then bitched about the ladies a bit (Stuck with you). State of Emergency showed us his cause, then he opened up about his past (Little brother), and then said it was all good (Toast) and looked to the future on the last track. Even if that’s not what they had in mind, that’s how the mixtape spoke to me and I enjoyed it. I did notice a few volume changes on some of the tracks that caught my attention. I was kinda bummed that there were only 9 tracks (personally I would have made it an even 10) but then now I want to hear more.
In general I was impressed by this mixtape and I’m very eager for more music from both Kahli and Kid KonnecT.
OVERALL GRADE – 7.5/10
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