Duct Tape Entertainment :: 2013 :: download this mixtape

War Cry is full of collaborators. Some are Alley Boy's usual comrades like Trouble and Veli Sosa, or Fat Trel and Master P, his two colleagues from the Louie V Mob trio. And some others are contemporary rap figureheads like Future, Meek Mill, Kevin Gates, Starlito, and Young Scooter, or important producers like Young Chop, Key Wane, and Havoc of Mobb Deep. Despite such variety, though, some found this mixtape too long and not diverse enough. As a matter of fact, it is quite relentless: Alley Boy won't offer any pause to his listeners. The leader of Duct Tape Entertainment raps in one mode only: a threatening, aggressive and belligerent one. For example, after he attacked some of his Atlanta precursors like T.I. and Young Jeezy, he continues assaulting his ennemies on "Hate in Dey Face", or traitors on "See The Signs". He hunts them down to their "Mama's House".

Only the touching "Love You", where Alley Boy turns himself into a vulnerable gangster, gets him away from his hostile and vindictive lyrics. The syrupy "All I Do", the strange "RNGM", the slow "I'm That", and the melodic "Cocaine", with Fat Trel, and "Long Haul", with Kevin Gates and Starlito, are putting some distance with the flashy synthesizers the mixtape is mostly made of. But beyond these, War Cry is exactly what it says: a martial shout, in a urban jungle, or a conflict zone where treachery and hypocrisy reign supreme ("No Love"), where all is wicked and black ("Bad"), and where only drug dealing deserves a bit of respect ("Cocaine"). The heavy and monomaniac aspect of War Cry might be a flaw to some, especially since it has less bangers than other Alley Boy releases. But it is also its strength, what makes it an album in good standard, and qualitatively almost homogeneous.