Hell Rell: The Extermination (Return of The Grind)

I’d have to say, of allll the 138 rap members of Dip Set that isn’t Juelz, Cam or Jones, I have to say I consider Hell Rell the team’s 6th man of the year… or whatever. Y’all know what I’m trying to say. Son sounds like he writes his rhymes on concrete with a Rambo knife or something. Probably using the compass on the handle to point him to his next victim of something. But for real, on the low son got some of the hardest rhymes in the game and his flow isn’t too shabby either.

Homie spit a nasty freestyle over Nas’ “Poison” instrumental. Given he isn’t a lyrical beast like Nas and his content is strictly “real thug nigga” oriented, he finds ways to keep it creative, and just relatable, but there were times I couldn’t even stop my head from boppin’ or my face from uncrumpling while listening to joints like “The Ruga Show” where son said, “Youse a rat, nigga. We ain’t from the same streets/I give you the truth, he give you the lies/guns on Rosary beads, how religious am I?” It was a pretty simple line, but still as hard as 50’s nipple on that GQ cover (not that I was staring or anything).

And not one to shy away from beef, dude addressed his haters on “The Extermination” stating, “Now when a real gangsta talk, you shut up and listen/I’m about to make a movie out of all my competition/I can start the Bentley up without the key in the ignition/go and pick your daughter up and your teacher tell you she missed him/and this cocksucker, Frenchy keep my name in his mouth/like I won’t run up in his house/put his brains on his couch/his girlfriend, Maxine going to jail for murder/soon as she get there it’s greenlight on that burger.”

While I don’t think mainstream success is in his future anytime soon (the harder the rhymes the harder it is to cross over), Ruga’s one of those rappers that does it for the love of the game—and all its groupie perks—and for the love of the hood. Son is that tough-as-nails rapper who could really gave a damn about a commercial hit, and that’s where he’s winning with his music. Given, “Ready To Fuck” was a very off attempt at showing his skills on an R&B joint, but he was still able to keep it street.

I mean on “King Kong Music” homie said, “Ask a little nigga who’s the hottest/Dip Set! Might say G-Unit/might say D-Block/no matter how you wanna look at it, I got the streets locked.” Those three groups he named are straight for the streets music makers. Well, D-Block still is. And Hell Rell is coming to claim that Hardcore title. The only question is, who’s holding it? 50? Yayo? Styles? Jadakiss? Sheek? My only beef was that some of his beats like the ones on “Death Wish,” and “Fresher Than A Newborn” sounded generic and '90s Cash Moneyish, but Ruga still delivered to the best of his ability and kept things interesting. In turn that made this a pretty cool mixtape. I just hope he doesn’t give up rapping for acting. We all remember his sensitive scene in “Killa Season.”

Hottest Joint: “Freestyle (Poison)”

Weakest Joint: “Ready To Fuck”