Hood Hustlin' the Mixtape, Vol. 1

Although Pastor Troy has been bouncing between the C list and the B list since he hit the scene, the overabundance of recordings he's been involved with is worth keeping an eye on, since moments of brilliance are here and there. His interpolation of an old Loose Ends hit for "Sittin' on Thangs" from DSGB's 'Til Death Do Us Apart was especially crafty, but lost amidst a scattershot discography with too many lukewarm records to mention. An above-ground release that does a very good imitation of the street-level mixtape scene, Hood Hustlin' finds the Pastor and co-coconspirator Nino mixing hard street tracks, doing the usual mixtape shoutouts and segues, and in true mixtape fashion, bringing on the beef. On the untitled/unlisted third cut, Troy and Nino's beef is with Lil Scrappy and Lil Jon for no other apparent reason than that they're famous. It smacks of desperation, but the fervor that leads up to the beef makes the cut one of the highlights of a mixtape that could use a few more. The album revels in its Dirty South hardness, so it's weird that the other killer track is "Sell Some Dope" by the very West Coast the Relatives (or if you're going to correct the authentic mixtape-misspellings, the cut is "Sometimes We Sell Dope" by the Relativez). Street mixtapes do a better job of staying on point, and Hood Hustlin' never seems to be promoting any other release besides itself. Maybe the Pastor just wanted to move some units or maybe he's just keeping his name out there. He actually comes off best in these rickety situations and without the major-label ambition, and while Hood Hustlin' could use more focus, Pastor Troy fans will appreciate hearing their man hit it hard and gutter on his tracks.