Royce Da 5'9"'s The Bar Exam 3: The Most Interesting Man: Mixtape: A Review

After two superlative mixtapes, The Bar Exam and The Bar Exam 2 and coming off his latest album Street Hop, Royce Da 5'9"'s latest entry to The Bar Exam series, The Bar Exam 3, hosted by G-Unit's DJ Whoo Kid, showcases the Detroit emcee doing what he does best: shredding the instrumentals of other artists with razor-sharp lyrics and wit.

If this is an audition for Shady Records (given the alleged impending Slaughterhouse-Shady Records record deal), it fires on most cylinders. He starts off with lightning-fast bars over Outkast's Bombs Over Baghdad (The Most Interesting Man) and Re-Up Gang's 20k Money Makin' Brothers on the Corner (Go Hard Pt. 1) instrumentals; on the latter he raises the question of whether he (and Kid Vishis) outrap the Virginia duo and their stable of lyricists. No one expects less than an elite-level of lyricism and Royce does not disappoint, nor does his impressive stable of guests, including his Slaughterhouse compatriots Joe Budden, Crooked I, and Joell Ortiz, plus fellow Detroit natives, such as Kid Vishis, Trick Trick, Black Milk, Junes Flow, Marvwon, and Elzhi, plus Bun B. This is a lyricist's mixtape, first and foremost, with Royce spitting some of the hottest bars of the year. Highlights include Go Hard, pt. 1, Go Hard Pt. 2 (over Rihanna's Hard instrumental), Nobody F'ing Wit Us (featuring Bun B, Joe Budden and Crooked I), and Psycho (over the 50 Cent track of the same name). 187, (also over the 50 Cent track of the same name), sends quite a few shots at New York rapper Saigon on behalf of Joe Budden, and is also noteworthy. And Whoo Kid is uncharacteristically understated, which is a good thing as Royce more than makes up for it with a raft of adlibs and special effects.

You could fault the lack of original production, especially with excellent original mixtapes from the likes of T.I. (F a Mixtape - read review), and Drake (So Far Gone). But relatively few emcees these days truly slaughter beats. He lays waste to Drake's Over and Forever, B.O.B.'s Airplanes, as well as several other current beats, with a flair for gun references and surreal imagery. Thematically, it is all very interesting, though the raft of freestyles themselves may start to wear on listeners looking for depth.

But you might wonder why anyone would expect a few more songs here to begin to balance out the freestyles. This is after all a Royce mixtape. It is called The Bar Exam. True. But in an era wherein mixtapes have very nearly supplanted albums in a hip-hop artist's catalog, it's important to have an anchor record or two, the majority of material here is Royce doing what he does best, seemingly effortlessly. The barrage of spectacular verses leaves little to resonate, little to remember. the most memorable tracks might be Taxi Driver, wherein Royce translates his lyrical acuity to song, or Real Hip-Hop with Black Milk and Elzhi with its soulful sample.

Still, he is having a lot more fun than most artists on their mixtapes, which is refreshing. And for an emcee with Royce's skill to let loose, unencumbered by any preoccupations, leaves a disc full of pure lyricism and humor which is nothing to complain about. At all.