Eastern Shore, VA emcee Handles rang in the New Year by dropping off his last installment of his “Thinking Ahead” series with DJ Suss-One titled “Done Thinking”. A 15 track long raw hip hop collection with features from Mass, A.Driver, Intalek, Carnage45, Kartel Kobain, Satasha M., Rob McCoy, Jazzarae, Sanura, Bobby Capri & Kay Flow and production by Astronote, D.R.U.G.S., Best Kept Secrets, Flawless Tracks and others.
Handles kicks it off with a track that shares its name with the mixtape title, “Done Thinking”, where he goes from thinking mode to pure action. “Tape Rock” contains a Biggie sample and Handles speaking on the tape deck era. We also get a snipplet of Nas speaking on cassette decks. On “Fresh” he spazs out over some cosmic slop reminiscent of the Redman/Keith Murray sound of yesteryears. “Speakers On Blast” carries a heavy DJ Premier influence and speaks on the resurrection of that nineties hip hop feeling.
On the soulful “Monsta” Handles does a nice job of flowing over the sampled horns and the tom tom rolls will remind you of the Don Cannon/Jeezy beat “Go Crazy”. “It’s Like That” is an ode to the old school hip hop movement and speaks on Handles life growing up. The track also samples Micheal Jackson’s “Human Nature”. “Pain & Progression” and “Take Ya Time” are collab tracks that are decent. “Hurt Me” is Handles take on a bad past relationship. “Whip Game” is dedicated to the vehicle connoisseurs out there.
“He Say, She Say, I Say (Remix) was a previously released track on a different project but this is the song that put me onto Handles in the first place, so it’s only right it made it onto this mixtape. On “Lifestyle” Handles goes into great detail about how a person’s lifestyle directly affects a persons well being and those around them. He then pays tribute to the best era in hip hop on the super soulful “90’s Love” and on M.ind O.ver M.atter he explains his triumphs thru struggles and knowledge he’s acquired over the years.
“Done Thinking” is a very solid and well put together mixtape that has deep seeded roots in the 90’s hip hop movement. He stuck with that concept throughout the entire album and his lyrics and delivery are superb. Keep a lookout for Handles to make some major noise within the industry.
Written by: blitzb_60505