Solid Mas

The Show Off Mixtape, which is really more of an album, has all the hallmarks of an accomplished battle rapper's first take at making a record. Solid Mas has a gift for complex rhyme schemes and an unbeatable arsenal of punch lines backed by crisp boom bap beats. He also suffers from an acute lack of content. Like most battle rappers trying to make their first album, Solid Mas has a lot of songs about how nice he is on the mic, how lousy various unnamed opponents are and how hard it is to get a break in the rap game. As talented as Mas is, there's no way there's enough quality material here to fill a full-length. When Mas does get away from rhyming about his awesomeness, on love song "Ride On," the reminiscing "Child Lost" and even the misogynistic "fuck you!" to an ex-girlfriend that is "Loose Change," he comes off sounding like a potential underground star. If Solid Mas ever finds the subject matter that grabs him he'll produce some classic albums. If not, he'll still be able to throw out a great punch line.