Six Reasons 80’s Baby Review

Six Reasons returns with 80’s Baby, a 19-track project which shows glimpses of a promising future in Hip-Hop. The tape is hosted by west coast favorite, Dj Skee who assists Six as he tries to find his footing in the rap game

80’s Baby doesn’t feature anything new as far as content ;women, jewelry and money are the main themes of the listening experience, but one could argue that those would be themes for the majority of young, black men growing up in the 80’s. But I digress.  Six tries to incorporate tracks for every type of Hip-Hop fan.  His attempts at taking over the club are met with mixed results; while tracks like “Black Rosary” and “Michael Myers” will undoubtedly have your speakers knocking, the looped beats and recycled flows will have you ready to hit skip before both tracks conclude. Six grabs the listeners’ ear midway through 80’s Baby, on “Ghetto Prayer.” He injects energy and some comical punch lines into a subpar instrumental. Lines like “Money like Porn Stars, it comes quick.”  are good for a chuckle or two.

Six lacks the lyrical consistency to keep a casual listener of Hip-Hop interested in his sound, but his simplified rhyme scheme and hunger he displays on tracks makes up for it.  Not surprisingly, the tape’s best moment is Six’s most vulnerable. “Pinky Swear” finds Six making a promise to his children that unlike his father, he will be a pillar of stability in their life. The track’s honesty and raw emotion makes this a definite listen. The production on 80’s baby is kind of contradicting.  One would think that there would be more gritty and soulful instrumentals on the tape, to really capture the atmosphere of living in poverty during the 80’s.

However, the majority of the beats seem to be generic- MMG throwaways. 80’s Baby shouldn’t be considered the peak of Six Reasons career; while not universally appealing, there is a lane and audience for what Six Reasons represents, and 80’s Baby seems to be as stepping stone on the journey for Six to find that audience.