[Editor’s note: DJ’s, to have your mixtape considered for “Mixtape Massacre,” send CDs to: XXLmag.com c/o “Mixtape Massacre”/ 1115 Broadway, 8th floor/ New York, NY 10010]

At a time when half of the hip-hop scene has gone commercial, and a portion of the other half is trying to find a way to become mainstream, it’s a breath of fresh air to listen to Sha Stimuli’s Hotter Than July mixtape. You remember that there’s still MC’s that will spit for the heads that burn down blocks instead of buying out bars. Like a hungry MC coming off the block, Sha goes in on almost every track with tight lyrical content and hard rhymes.

Just listen to “Flows” and listen to him spit: “A superhero like Will Smith, Hancock – bang glocks / maybe you should chill / I’m coming, I’m dumbing, I’m buggin’ on beats / good Lord, I’m hungry, I’m looking for something to eat / would you want a war with an ignorant soldier – a beast / or avoid expulsion of blazing and burning in heat…”

Tell me that this man isn’t trying to prove a point. “The Coldness” had a mid '90s, Wu-Tang sound that’s been absent since Rae, Meth and Ghost discovered that RZA isn’t the only producer in the world.

He then paints a personal picture on “The Knock” and gives you a glimpse into the imperfect man that resides in him that most of us can all relate to.

My only beef with this joint would he his lack of being creative with his flows and styles. Like Will Smith, he acts the same way on every other track. Let’s just hope that he doesn’t do “everything” that Will Smith does…not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Hottest joint: "The Flows"

Weakest Joint: "I Get Up"

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