You know what was surprising? Not seeing Bay Area rapper Iamsu!'s 2014 album Sincerely Yours getting much love on any year-end lists. It was great, and the HBK Gang founder is terribly underrated, minus how much airplay the Vine sensation "Gas Pedal" got. Anyway, today he put out a new mixtape called Eyes on Me, and it is most excellent.
Iamsu makes music that's very well produced—it's fun and bouncy in a way that makes you want to move. His style is very Bay Area, and yet uniquely his. The tape he put out today is only seven songs long, but it leaves no room for misses: They're all very good. Also, if we're continuing on the theme of giving Iamsu credit where credit is due, it's worth pointing out that he also has two production credits here, though the tape also gets a little MUSTARD ON THA BEAT HOE boost with the track "Nothin Less."
It's good listening. Anyway, it's a fun tape, and one not to be overlooked. I feel like Iamsu is just starting to percolate as an artist: The music he's put out so far hasn't necessarily gotten the attention it deserved outside of the Bay Area, but maybe that means, as they say, that the best is yet to come.