This isn’t new or anything (in fact Gel and Weave posted the tracklist back in May and Southern Smoke 14 is already out) but I’m not sure that there’s a better single-disc mixtape to represent southern hip-hop in 2004. Its hosted by Bubba Sparxxx and its got pretty much everything you want in a southern comp - A lot of the tracks on this are already hits or are on their way to being hits - “Nolia Clap remix,” “Three Kings,” “I Want it U Got It,” “Knuck if you Buck,” “What They Gon’ Do,” etc. If you’re wondering why the new Eminem single is so crappy, Lil Jon and Eminem’s “Crunk Juice (40oz)” won’t make things any clearer because it bangs and Eminem sounds a lot hungrier and less bored than on his single. Its also got a whole bunch of Bun B verses (what mixtape this year doesn’t…) but he’s always welcome to drop them - even this far into his career and minus Pimp C he’s still killing it.
Southern Smoke 11 was interesting because it was T.I. live from prison but it definitely doesn’t have the same number of hot tracks that ten does. I haven’t heard Southern Smoke 12 w/ Juvie but a quick scan of the tracklist suggests it isn’t quite as good either.
I haven’t been paying attention to mixtapes much since I got to school but if you get one CD of southern hip-hop this year, this wouldn’t be a bad choice.