------------"Ghetto 2 Tha Barrio" is the first in a series of 3 (so far) compilations brought to us by The Illtip Magazine, Moreno Negro Entertainment, and Dogday Records. Some of the guys on here are off of Dogday, but they range from Richie Rich to X-Raided to Mr. Doctor to Young Droop. It is more or less a cross section of a great deal of the activity from the Bay to Sac-Town and everywhere in between. It is nearly 70 minutes long over 16 tracks. As with most compilations, it falls short of coming through with one dominant theme or style.
___First up is Capone de Latin Jam with the title track. This guy's style of rapping is monotness and unappealing. His rapping might be better on a fast track, but this it is a slow beat with a weird-ass piano that does not, probably could never, suit anyone's style of rapping successfully. Next up is a song which you should be familiar with since it is the title track off of Never's "Show No Mercy". Good music, better line up of rappers (Taydatay, Never, Lil Will), and damn good delivery. Next track: A cut dfeaturing Mr. Doctor Foe Loco, Tre-Eight, and Big O called "Instinct". MIxed feelings is the best way to describe this track. Having heard some other Mr. Doctor shit you do not come away feeling that this tracks exploits his best rapping abilities and the same can undoubtedly be said of the others. Track 4: "209's Most" was on DJ MT's double cd, "1 Bullet 4 U". This is one of the better tracks on this cd, with fast-paced music and tight droppage of verses by some notables like Negative 1, Mickey D, A.L.G., Never and MT himself.
___"End of Dayz" I figured would be an incredible song, as it features everyone's favorite young gangsta, Droop, courtesy of Killa Valley Entertainment. Unfortunately, this song is plagued with producing by Taurus for Bullpen Muzak, which does not connect with the delivery of the verses. The other guys on this track, Phantom and member-of-Triple-Beam Shotgun give good showings of potential, but the beat surely holds them back. YGD's style goes well with either really fast paced music or damn-near R&B slowness (listen to "1990-Hate" for examples of both), but this track offers neither. "Pharmasudicals" is a decent track featuring P.K.O. and Nino. I haven't heard of either of these rappers, but I certainly hope to in the future as they give a good show of flow and interaction with the beat they are provided by Big Balling Productions. Next up, fresh off of South Park Mexican's cd "3rd Wish", is "Wiggy", which also has Baby Beesh on it. The production is decent and the verses are not bad, but the ridiculous hook ("Did your crib get raided by this little piggy, wiggy {repeated 6 times}). I cannot vouch for a song with such an outlandish and off the wall chorus (however, I know my non-underground-music-loving friends will be all over this track), even though it is otherwise not such a bad song. If you have the first Minority Militia cd, "Criminal Network", then you are familiar with the next cut which is entitled the same as the group. Mickey D, Lil Wyno, A.L.G., and Never come through tight over a rather bumpin' beat made by fellow Militia man DJ MT.
___Up on deck after this is a song that the cover and credits both say features G-Idez, Swoop Dog, and X-Raided, of all people, called "Rule of All Evil". However, it says nothing like that in the hook and a woman ends up where Raided is supposed to be. Unless I am just not listening to the song closely enough, this song is actually called "Incognito" and may or may not feature the other two guys, but denitely no Raided. Anyway, the delivery is below par for the 3 rappers and the beat is too slow. Next come the Illegal Amigos with their piece of the pie, "Execution". There is either a woman or a feminine sounding guy with a verse and thereafter yells things, which brings down this track, which isn't too good to begin with since the beat is not catchy and has nothing new to offer. Track 11 has Mc Man and Richie Rich rappin about "Funny How The Game Changed". More of story telling track with a slower beat for a more dramatic effect and an interestingly different hook make this one of the more decent tracks. After them, Litefoot and Frost try to tell a story of their own on "Willin To Die". This track is neither a standout or a dropout. Par delivery over a par beat make this a, you guessed it, par track, enough said. Track 13 is more or less a group track by Project Affiliated. Features here are Gezus, Skarface, DJ MT and Cutty Face, which you've heard on one of the DRF soundtracks. An alright subject matter on this song, called "Street Minority", and a different sounding beat with stable rapping turn this song into a decent track.
___After that song are the Funky Aztecs on their song "Gotta Die". Merciless and 2-Ton have damn good flows and a subject matter not unlike Spice-1's "Born to Die" song. All of this is over a catchy beat, add in a decent hook, and this is a pretty good song. I figured the next song would be good as well, since it features Drew, Sir Dyno, Oso and K.I.D. Reminding everyone that the split between Dogday and Darkroom was going on right around this time and even a little before, I was surprised to see these vatos on this cd. Anyway, their song "In The Valley", has their signature use of Spanish ("In the field where the cuete spark") and the flow by the members of DRF is not below their usual. The beat, although done by a questionable character named Chilly Willy, fits the feel of the lyrics almost like a glove. A damn good song at almost the end of this tomultous musical journey.
___The last stop From the Ghetto to the Barrio features Assassin & Locced 2 Da Brain. "Tonight We Ride", unfortunately, has a too-slow flow to really end the cd on a high note. The beat is there as a set up for someone like YGD to tear it apart, by these guys just can't get the job done, espcially with a weak chorus ("To-nai-ie-ie-ight"). As an irnoic twist, this last track symbolizes the cd as a whole. There is so much potential considering the multitude of artists on here, but it just doesn't deliver like it should. With some tracks being so below even decent, they all but cancel out the notable tracks such as "Show No Mercy", "209's Most", and "Gotta Die". As exhuasting as it was to write, and undoubtedly read, this long-ass review, it is yet another ironic twist because you come away from this cd feeling tired. You get so many different variations and style and high points and low points that you just pick out the tracks that are appealing and probably never listen to the rest. Throw in the fact that most of the good songs are off of other cds, which are or will surely be in your collection at some point or another, and this cd leaves somewhat of a dissatisfied feeling. Unless you are just getting into the Bay Area/Sac-Town underground rap scene, you can safely by-pass this first volume of the "Ghetto 2 the Barrio" series.
