Mixtape Review: Pill – 4075: The Refill

Yesterday, Pill dropped one of the most anticipated mixtape releases of the year with 4075: The Refill.

The artist was tossed into the national spotlight when Motion Family’s graphic video for “Trap Goin Ham” dropped earlier this year.  Pill continued to build his buzz with a video for “Glass,” and most recently “Womb 2 Tomb,” featuring fellow emerging artist Freddie Gibbs.

His music is refreshing because he paints a portrait of the streets in a very natural and real way, effectively shaming all the artists who pretend to be from his part of town.

The Pink City native is bringing reality to street music and, in doing so, has gotten his name in the New York Times as well as blogs everywhere.  4075: The Refill is a major turning point in Pill’s budding career, as it validates his lyrical ability and creativity.

Pill and Freddie Gibbs team up for the tape’s “Run Up To Me.”

Freddie Gibbs has a good guest verse, but my favorite lines belong to Pill:

“What you lookin so sad fo’?
Is it cause your cash low?
I got nothin for ya baby,
I only take cash flow…
Pill only want cheese, cheese,
Could you make mine with cheese please?
If you can’t throw no cheese on that bitch,
Then I gotta leave, leave.”

Those lines about cheese are pretty hilarious!  Here’s footage of Pill and Freddie performing the track live in NYC.

“Wreckage” has Pill going in over Tupac’s “Keep Your Head Up,” and showing his more compassionate side.

“Walk in the shoes of kids growing up without a dad,
Momma strung out on crack, well that’s the type of life I had,
I see these bums on the corner and it cause damage,
My stomach growlin but I still give em half of my sandwich…
I want to rise from the wreckage called ghetto living,
I can’t hide what’s inside this just one of them feelings,
Sometimes I dream but sirens intervene the slumber,
Intertwined with my mind’s vivid scenes of momma,
Rest in peace, wish you could see your youngest son do it,
I collect all the memories and then I run to it,
I know you in a better place cause you was goin through it.”

Pill got personal with that track, speaking about his deceased mother and her drug addiction.

The motivational intro to another personal track, “Music,” is set over a soulful sample.  Pill says, “I mean, I aint got no choices/  Music is my everything/  It’s all I got/  Aint no turning back from here/  So it’s like, it’s either this or the block.”

The track provides insight on how he feel in love with music and was influenced by legends and hip hop icons such as Michael Jackson, Luther Vandross, Tupac, and Dr. Dre.  The verses are broken up by interludes where Pill reminisces on music’s influence on his life.

Pill speaks about the pain he witnessed growing up in the projects with “All I Can Say” and “Let Me In.”

In “All I Can Say,” he spits lines about his struggle:

“Look at this shit,
I’ve been living, in substandard condition,
Impoverished, listen,
Pockets stuffed with hopin and wishin,
Open the kitchen, roaches and dishes,
Refrigerator clean,
Stomach on empty…
Woke up to not a damn thing for the hundredth time,
No I’m lying about the millionth, you might catch me cryin,
On my knees beggin the lord to send a blessin here.”

“Let Me In” has an eerie beat that works well with the image Pill creates of being stuck outside and having no one to help him out.

“I know you hear me clearly,
See me flailing my arms bitches,
This is really silly,
Trying to remain calm with you,
But I might lose control,
Sick of wearing these shoes with holes,
Walkin to Mobile stations, while niggas on cruise control,
Living in different places, addresses change on my daily,
Selling this dope to eat, politicians look at me crazy.”

Pill has been naming his mixtapes after the many different places he grew up.  4180: The Prescription refers back to the Kimberly Court Projects on 4180 Cant Street, and 4075: The Refill is referring to the address of Pill’s aunt’s house.

Not all of the tracks are serious however, as Pill created a few joints that will surely please Atlanta clubs and radio stations; “Super Cool” and “You’re Nasty.”

“Super Cool” has a playful beat that sounds like it was made for Young Dro and will definitely connect with Travis Porter fans who have been jammin out to the high school group’s “Turnt Up.”  The song is full of clever punch lines and catch phrases, which will make for good quotes!

The catchy hook and smooth beat on “You’re Nasty” make it both the most soothing and most sexual track on the project.  Pill is very graphic with his lyrics to say the least.

Other stand out tracks are  “Dropped a Mick on Me,” which has Pill goin in over Geto Boy’s “Mind Playing Tricks On Me,” and “Ok Dennn,” where the hook has Pill saying one of his signature phrases!

At various points of the mixtape, the emerging artist sounds similar to a young T.I., expressing a similar swag and southern twang.

We probably wont see new music from Pill for awhile, but this tape is more than enough to hold his fans over.  In the meantime, keep an eye out for the second installment of Pill’s cooking show; last time we met up, he spoke about trying to work with Martha Stewart.