Submitted by: Sabrina Phillips - Hugo Tae recently dropped his new mixtape “HUGO” and it’s undeniable that this right here is good music. Hugo Tae is a perfect example of the musical talent Philly hosts. If you’re looking for classic, real good hip-pop this is the mixtape you need to be listening to. Hugo Tae describes this mixtape as “letting my art speak” and he does that very well from beginning to end. Now on to some of the tracks.
With music I believe that quality is more than quantity and that’s why I think I’m feeling this release so much. It only has 5 tracks but every track packs in more than some rap albums in recent years gave in 3 songs. His lyricism to start is some of the best I’ve heard. He incorporates the sounds of classic 90's hip-hop with modern influences and it comes off completely natural. His flow is insane and it matches perfectly with the various topics he deals with on each track. I especially like the message he spits in the very first track “If Only You Knew” over an amazing beat by P.Ellis. This is a track that I think a lot of kids coming up right now need to hear. My personal favorite track though is “Bandcamp” produced by D-No. This is the track where Hugo Tae goes the hardest and he was accompanied with a beat that fulfilled his lyrics potential. From the very beginning when he says “everybody in the 215 put your hands up” until he let’s you know who just killed y'all at the end when he says “Hugo Tae”, it’s a flawless track. He closes the album with “Hardly Underground” which features Takeoff Mizzy and Sy Mason. Not only is it the closing track but it’s the only song that Hugo doesn’t carry alone. All 3 rappers compliment each other very well and manage to close out the album seamlessly.
With self titled releases I always feel that it’s so important to make sure that what the album holds is a good representation of the artist and their music as it carries their name in several ways. This mixtape does that very well I believe and gives us a large insight into Hugo’s ability, influence, and perspective on the rap game, love, family, and life. When Hugo Tae made this he made sure that there wouldn’t be any “never listened, downloaded just to show support” (Bandcamp) going on because this is a solid release. Remember Philly supports Philly but Philly also supports good music and this is right here is just that. So give it a listen, and let me know what you think.