Soulja Boy has released three mixtapes since Dec. 30, 2011. Why should you download one of them, much less all three of them? Admittedly that’s a tough question to answer. For the past year or so Mr. Tell ‘Em has been caught in a basedworld holding pattern, rattling off mixtape after mixtape of the same bouncey, low-budget synth jams that owe a whole lot to music Lil B was creating circa 2008. The highlights of Soulja’s recent output are probably his collaboration with his Lil B, Pretty Boy Millionaires, and the Khalifa-indebted1up, but neither produced a certifiable hit on the level of “Speakers Going Hammer” or “Turn My Swag On,” which is a problem because Soulja Boy thrives on periodically producing these unexpected, weirdly addicting pop-rap anthems.
Like 50/13 and Gold On Deck, its immediate predecessors, Mario & Domo Vs. The World fails to produce a hit, but the album is noteworthy because it presents something more cohesive and entertaining than the genre-hopping 50/13 and the uninspired Gold On Deck. Soulja’s collaborator here is Young L, a rapper/producer who got his start making beats for and rapping with Lil B in the Pack but who has lately been producing some interesting stuff on his own.
Young L and Soulja Boy make a good team because Young L has the discipline Soulja Boy lacks as well as a consistent aesthetic approach: scorching keyboard lines, subterranean basslines, plenty of open space for Soulja’s wobbly vocals. As a rapper Young L also serves as a useful counter, rapping in a hoarse whisper and obviously not challenging Soulja for lyrical primacy – if you’re looking for verbal fireworks, this mixtape is obviously not for you. At its best, like the songs “Ba” and “Money Man,” Mario & Domo Vs. The World offers a conceivable middle ground between left-coast wobble and deep-south wamp.
Standouts: “Ba”; “Money Man”.
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