When it comes to Chuuwee, the way he treats his music is concise and to a particular science. As he constantly reminds people, he’s a ‘student of the game’, meaning that he does his homework when it comes to Hip Hop and how he can apply the work of the ones past to his current and future projects. As it’s been demonstrated from past mixtapes before Wildstyle – Side A, Chuuwee has done justice in paying homage to the earlier groundbreakers in Hip Hop, including a full mixtape dedicated to the memory of J.Dilla (Chez!!?…Chill!!!!). What we heard on Side A was a collection of the 90s flavour that was blended in with early 90s flows from Method Man to Big L. There are a lot of rappers that are doing their best to ‘bring the 90s back’, but as Chuuwee goes into detail on B-Side, he assures us that he’s not just following the trend.

How the mixtape flowed along, it reminded me of Wiz Khalifa’s Taylor Allderdice, when Wiz was just explaining the progression of his career and everything surrounding it given the music aspect. There were intervals during this tape that brought it down to a personal level, as he Chuuwee was being interviewed, and how everything was set up, it flowed along well. In addition to explaining that he’s a ‘student of the game’, he went on about how his career has ascended, and even getting signed to Amalgam Digital – and this is just in a matter of a year’s time. There was definitely a difference between Wildstyle A & B, because of the tone of most of the songs. A bunch of them were personal & introspective that brought out the hidden feelings like: what life would be if he sold his soul for fame (Your Soul in E Minor), people who have Changed for the sake of being ‘put on’, and even coming to a peaceful state of mind in Piece Full (nice play on the word Peaceful), which is Chuuwee at his best when he gets into talking about his life and bringing the audience into his thoughts.

On the plus side, however, there are tracks that are more upbeat and allow Chuuwee to show off his confidence as a rapper. He may be still on the rise, but he’s not one to shy away how he feels about where he is at in the game (Outstanding is a good example). Also, there are fun tracks that bring that West Coast feel that has the significant bounce that was brought by Kurupt and Westside Connection (31 Flavors, Stoopid). As far as features go, there was a blend of old and new, as Chuuwee was able to summon the up and comer Stevie Crooks and the veteran Bay Area rapper, Mistah F.A.B. It’s always good to hear representation of TUS on the mixtape as well, as J.Good was able to squeeze in a feature as well. This mixtape felt different from a perspective that it was like a mini-documentary, with the interview bits, songs to compliment the stories told, and even a live freestyle that was added in. Contrary to the previous Side A being based on a day in Sacramento, Side B felt like it was an album – possibly foreshadowing his upcoming album (there’s a hint in the mixtape you have to listen for). This is a good sign of progression from an artist standpoint for Chuuwee as the production and overall song structure has been increasingly developed. For what’s next? Hopefully that long awaited album, but for now, enjoy this and indulge yourself in nostalgia.

That’s My Word & It STiXX