The UK’s very own Nicki Minaj drops Steff-lon-DON debuts her mixtape Real Ting after a string of standout features and fire remixes including Lock Arff and Uno My Style.
Remixes aside, Stefflon Don really caught my attention after the summer feature on the Dutch rapper Cho – Popalick. The mix between her and Cho on this track is faultless and really sees her shine-infusing Dutch twang with dancehall to produce a very catchy bouncy song.
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She didn’t stop there. She built on the Dutch hit with Cho with another smash feature Jeremih’s mellow hit “London” ft Play Dirty wordsmiths Krept& Konan. This song still gets a lot of circulation on the radio and prior to stumbling across this interview with Capital XTRA I actually thought she was born in Jamaica.
I really enjoy doing first time listen reviews and with the exception of Real Ting none of these songs I’ve heard before so this should be fun!. This will also be the first review I’ve posted up on the same day as writing it (I apologize in advance for grammar mistakes/ typos!)
1.Intro
The DON is coming! I really like the superhero feel which is going on with this one. There is also a bit of light wordplay on the very short opener.
2.Real Ting*
The very first time I heard this around a month ago I knew it was a hit. Hearing it now (around 50 plays later) I can really pick up on the influences of viral hit songs like Hot N*gga or more recently Ouuu. I feel like this could do some crazy YouTube numbers as a UK female remix it sounds like one of those type anthems.
3.Tight Nooki ft Jeremih
This is where I can see the Nicki Minaj comparisons come into to play. To me, this just sounds like a rip off of 2013 song French Montana – Freaks ft Nicki Minaj. I didn’t like the freaks song in 2013 and I don’t really like this one either, Murder She Wrote wins for me.
4.Gangsta
Steff almost sounds American on this song. Again, this really is not one of my favorites and it seems a bit weird that this is coming directly after Tight Nooki. This doesn’t really flow properly in my eyes.
5.Narcos
This is more like it. A hard-hitting Drill sounding instrumental which I feel should’ve come after Real Ting. Liking the flexing flow Steff uses on this song and the Spanish segment. I could actually hear CBiz smashing this as a feature.
6.Family Ties*
Now, this is easily my favorite song of the project thus far and I’ve never heard Steff get into her storytelling flow before. The combination of Steff, Donaeo and Dutch really works well to deliver a well polished personal family picture. I have to big up Donaeo the hook he crafted really does help to bring home the emotion.
7.16 Shots*
The first thing that came to mind when I saw the name of this track was Vic Mensa’s 16 shots which sheds light on mass shootings/injustices against African Americans. Granted, the narratives are different but the raw aggression and passion in the choruses really aren’t too dissimilar ”No Gal can’t tell me about my Mada!” The flow switch, up here at 33 seconds is crazy. What a track.
8.Envy Us ft Abra Cadabra
This is a very refreshing switch up into some afro-beats Mr Eazi esque Envy Us. Steff interchanges between a melodic sound to a DON like alter-ego dropping some fiery bars. The question is when is Abra going to drop a mixtape!!
9.Lik Down ft Termz
This is a high energy song with the similar type of easygoing flexing style as Narcos. There is nothing special in my eyes with this.
10.Dem Neva Warn Ya
This really does remind me of something Mavado or Vybz Kartel would deliver in the heights of the Gully vs Gaza wars. It’s so surprising for me to hear someone infuse Dancehall so well into their style who is not a native.
11.Forever (Ft Fiona Bevan)
The drop at 30 seconds really wasn’t what I was expecting! I thought OK last track going to be a mellow round and very introspective. I was pleasantly surprised with this which was an old school garage/grime mash up. I can see this one crossing over and being a single from the project.
Stefflon Don is in a pocket which I haven’t actually ever seen a non-USA female dominate (e.g. Remy Ma, Nicki Minaj, Lil Kim and Rihanna). I will even go as far to say I haven’t heard another female from the UK as versatile as her before.
All in all, it’s a very good mixtape which was full of surprises. I would really like to hear more of her Storytelling on future projects like on she demonstrated on Family Ties. She really does have the ability to pretty much shine on any style of music embed and put her own unique spin on it.
Top 3 tracks: Real Ting, 16 Shots and Family Ties.
8/10
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