When I truly listen to an album or a mixtape, I have to give it a good week and a couple of listens. During the first listen, I need to be excited about what I'm listening to, but you have to give anything a few good listen to completely understand the story and the themes that are present. Also, after I listen to something once, I want to see if I have a desire to listen to it again. I get dirty looks from people when I admit this, but I only listened to Kid Cudi album once because even though it seemed ok when I listened to it the first time, I had no desire to listen to it again. I just wasn't excited about it at all. I'll still give "Pursuit of Hapiness" and "Hyyyer" a good listen every once in a while, but other than that, the entire time I wasn't finding the first album engaging.
In terms of "Mr. Freshman," its an ok mixtape. I listened to it twice, but I liked it better the first time. The only song I will actually go back to often is the first track "Forever, For Always, For Love." But I think its a pretty strong effort and if he put another mixtape I would give it a listen. This might be due to my short attention span, but to me mixtape are only relevant to my iPod for a good week or two, and the fact that I listened to this twice says a lot from me. I think I may just be tired of the rapper/singer combo, because many times by stretching yourself out like that, you are just mediocre at both. There are exceptions (Drake, Trey Songz) but sometimes, you have to develop just one of your talents before you can even try to master another one.
Click here for the Mr. Freshman Mixtape
