DJ Mustard
10 Summers
Release Date: Aug 25, 2014
Genre(s): Rap
Record label: Roc Nation
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Album Review: 10 Summers by DJ Mustard
Very Good, Based on 6 Critics
Based on rating 4/5
If you’re in any American city, try scouting out some turf that provides an aerial perspective of the streets. Climb to the top of some shitty building and feel young. It’s the dead of summer; you might scorch your hands on the rusted handle of a fire escape — step over some hot bricks or something. Once in position, look down and take in the visual situation: wavy blurs of heat hovering above the skyline, a busted-up grill in the corner, cars driving around all over the place.
Based on rating 7.7/10
DJ Mustard completely owns popular rap and R&B in 2014. Both scenes (where they are separate, and where they bleed together) have long been defined by super-producers, but few—including Timbaland and the Neptunes, whose names can’t help be evoked in this conversation—have had runs as successful as Mustard’s, who has placed no less than 15 songs on various Billboard charts this year. That list includes some of the year’s most enduring songs—from Kid Ink’s “Show Me” to Tinashe’s “2 On”—but more to the point is Mustard’s total and overwhelming ubiquity.
Based on rating 7/10
DJ Mustard created a sound in rap music that, since the release of Tyga's "Rack City" two-and-a-half years ago, has taken over the production game. Regardless of his opening tagline, "Mustard on the beat, ho," that finds itself on all of his production, DJ Mustard's infectious high hats, handclaps and heavy synths have been emulated over and over again. Following the release of his 2013 project Ketchup, DJ Mustard has finally released his debut album, 10 Summers, a 12-track project that boasts collaborations, party anthems and one very bold sonic statement.DJ Mustard takes a page out of DJ Khaled's book, bringing heavy-hitters in rap music together for a series of anthems, and many of the tracks here stick.
Based on rating 3/5
The sound of hip-hop in 2014 is the rubbery, skeletal pulses of L.A. producer DJ Mustard, who will have scored about half a dozen Hot 100 hits before summer's end. Rather than coast on his formula, though, Mustard spends much of his debut album making hard-hitting, old-school West Coast hip-hop. Famous friends (Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz) and emerging MCs stop by for songs that suggest modern versions of Eazy-E's "Boyz-n-the-Hood" ("Ghetto Tales") and Too $hort's freaky storytelling ("Face Down").
Based on rating 6/10
DJ Mustard :: 10 SummersPu$haz Ink/Roc Nation/Republic RecordsAuthor: Grant JonesEvery few years, a producer comes through and becomes the hottest thing since, well ten summers. We've had Trackmasters, Timbaland, The Neptunes, Just Blaze, Lil Jon, Timbaland again, David Guetta and now it seems to be DJ Mustard. You only have to look at some of the biggest hits of the past 12 months to see why he's so in demand: Kid Ink & Chris Brown's "Main Chick," T.I.
Opinion: Excellent
Not even hip-hop historians are entirely in agreement when in fact the decline of Western Civilization fully came to fruition. After the rings of the Up In Smoke Tour evaporated, aside from a few solid releases from Game and Snoop Dogg, dark days descended fast. Fans sat on metaphorical sidewalks desperately awaiting Dr. Dre’s Detox as tumbleweeds passed them by year after year with no release in sight.