Tara Chase

Tara Chase, one of the original members of the Circle, has put 15 years of hip-hop into the game and finally graduated. While being a full-time MC she was putting in work as an undercover bioengineering student. The title of her newest mix-tape commemorates her scholastic achievement while its content, 25 tracks deep, is Tara Chase at her best. The College Graduate gives the listener an education on how nice Tara is, and has been, on the mic. "Taking You Back” parts one, two and three, feature verses Chase has done in the past with IRS, DL Incognito and the Rascalz, just in case you didn’t know. The rest of this mix-tape is a lesson, devoid of filler material, updating the listener on Tara’s impressive styles. "F-You” uses a neck-snapper of a beat and aims for the ish-talker MCs that Tara has had to deal with. Like the other joints that will be on Tara’s upcoming album, it’s faded out after the first verse. "Damn,” is the social studies portion of the mix-tape and one of its best songs (also reserved for her album). Tara’s songwriting shines on her freestyles and remakes of "Overnight Celebrity,” "I Really Mean It,” and "Selfish,” which is a dedication to Canadian MCs. This mix of songs and freestyles is tied together with original interludes that bring some surprises and effortlessly bridge one group of songs to the next. The College Graduate is one of the tightest mix-tapes of the year.