Album Review: DJ Akademiks - 80s vs. 90s Mixtape
by Afriyie "Free" Amankwaa
"The Free Experience"

As a well known hip hop fan and lover of the old school, it was only right for me to write this review. The beginning of the mixtape features brothers of the Mu Zeta chapter of Phi Beta Sigma repeating ‘80s vs. ‘90s. I couldn’t help but laugh and applaud them since this is the first time I’ve heard of an organization play a role in the creation of a mixtape. I thought it would have been dragged out and would only hear them mention “‘80s vs. ‘90s” at least 400 times.  Then, I heard A Tribe Called Quest’s “Lyrics to Go” sample in the background right after the introduction. The majority of the mixtape seemed to cater to the 90s’ which I’m sure my fellow 90s’ babies won’t have a problem with.  When I heard classics from the New Jack Swing era such as Bel Biv Devoe’s “Poison” and Montell Jordan’s “This Is How We Do It,” I lost it. I mean when is the last time you’ve even heard anyone mention the New Jack Swing? Exactly. Go ahead Akademiks!

While I bobbed my head throughout the whole mixtape, I would’ve liked to hear Akademiks put more emphasis on the Bad Boy era. Even though we did hear a couple of Biggie tracks, let’s think beyond the spectrum. When Diddy (in this case since we’re talking about ‘80s vs. ‘90s, I’ll refer to him as Puffy) first came on the scene, he was responsible for hits from artists like Jodeci.  For example, instead of using Jennifer Lopez’s Aint It Funny Remix (which came out in the new millennium by the way), I would’ve liked to hear one hit wonder(I keep it real at all times) Craig Mack’s Flava in Ya Ear. I wanted to hear more Faith Evans, Lil’ Kim in her prime, Total, team Puffy in general since they took over the game (at least on the East Coast) in the ‘90s. Feel me?

Overall, Akademiks did do a good job with this mixtape.  If you’re ever feeling nostalgic, this is the mixtape for you. Now, it’s time for me to go watch an episode of “Sister, Sister.”