Novel & Joell Ortiz “Defying The Predictable” Review
Joell Ortiz and Novel live up to their collaborative mixtape title, Defying The Predictable by, well, defying the predictable mixtape sound. What we have here is the first stellar mixtape to drop in 2010.
Ortiz and Novel do play off each others styles to perfection as evident by the mixtape. Novel’s smooth R&B and soulish singing voice meets Ortiz and his aggressive get-out-of-my-way-I’m-from-Brooklyn-dammit flow.
One of the best transitions to happen on the tape is when Novel exits from singing and goes into rapping. He manages the switch so nonchalantly making you get blown away by his talents and to further question why he doesn’t get recognized as one of the industry’s best.
Ortiz also shines as he continues to show off his lyrical ability and adaptation to any kind of production and style. This mixtape will make you anticipate Ortiz’s forthcoming album, Free Agent even more.
The standout track on the mixtape remains Stressful, which plays off Trey Songz and Drake’s Successful. Novel is the standout here as he takes Trey’s part on the hook where “I just want to be successful” becomes “Why is everything so stressful?” Along with that, he also throws down a verse at the end of the song. People like to cite Drake as the duel threat between rapping and singing abilities. Well, Novel is also worthy of the duel-threat tag. In fact, he’s probably even better. Novel not only sings and raps on this mixtape, but a handful of tracks on the mixtape are also produced by him. He’s a trifecta of talent.
Another thing making this mixtape an enjoyable listening experience are the sprinkled in soundbites from the film, Almost Famous. As you listen through, some of the songs are introduced by well-known soundbites from the film which play into the theme of the song.
Jadakiss, Spree Wilson, Saigon, Slaughterhouse are also featured on tape.
Listen to “Stressful” and download the tape.
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