Clams Casino Instrumentals Vol. 3 | Mixtape Download

Clams Casino Review

Seemingly out of nowhere, Clams Casino dropped the third and final installment of his instrumental beat tape series. He later cleared up any confusion saying that it's not his "final" project, just the last of this series. There will be more Clams.

The tape features beats made for the usual suspects: ASAP Rocky, Mac Miller and a few others. We also get the Bookfiend instrumentals that he made for JJ DOOM, and the track from GTA 5.

Instrumental Tape 3 is about par for the Clams Casino course. It's a good collection of beats, but it's absolutely devoid of curve balls. We get that same low-fi, distorted, phased out style that we've come to expect the man. And while that's perfectly acceptable, especially for a free plate of leftovers, it's just not that exciting on the third go around.

I was really into Clams when he produced LiveLoveA$AP, Instrumental Tape 1 and even his EP, Rainforest. Palace is still one of my most played tracks in iTunes. But his style doesn't seem to have evolved much since then. For a newer Clams Casino fan, his newest beats aren't likely discernible from his older work. He's been extremely consistent over the last three years, but doesn't seem to have tweaked his formula at all.

If you're into those low fidelity, speaker bleeding beats and like anything in CC's backlog, you'll probably dig this project. Just don't expect anything too abnormal, or more advanced than what you heard in 2011.

Download Clams Casino's new Instrumentals Volume 3.



If you haven't yet, also take a look at Volume 1 and Volume 2.

Busta Rhymes + Q-Tip | Mixtape Download

The Abstract and The Dragon

Earlier this week Q-Tip and Busta Rhymes dropped their highly anticipated mixtape, The Abstract and The Dragon. Their project generated a lot of buzz after the first single, Thank You was released just before Thanksgiving. The second single, Butch Sundance, was equally infectious.

Despite all the talk that Tip and Bussa Buss stirred up over this project, fans were generally disappointed with the lack of new material. The mixtape is largely a compilation of older songs the two have been featured on together. This includes songs from A Tribe Called Quest, some pieces from Busta's solo work and a remix here and there.



If this project would have come out 10 or 15 years ago, it would have been huge - but the lack of fresh content makes this a dated piece. When you hear that two artists are prominent as Q-Tip and Busta Rhymes are dropping a mixtape, you imagine the duo writing and recording an album's worth of new material together.

That's not to say it's a bad tape, it's just not the mixtape everyone was hoping for. It's a powerful collection of songs that serve as a reminder for the impact the two have had on the hip hop industry. Buf if you're a fan of Q-Tip or Busta Rhymes, you've probably had most of these tracks in your library for years.

Fingers crossed for a full length album from these cats in 2014. Download below, or check out theabstractandthedragon.com for more exclusives.