Currensy "Sports Center Vol. 1"

I’ve been patiently waiting for Currensy to come out to our lovely town. The date is set for December 2nd. Over the course of the next month I’ll be reviewing all of his old work. It starts today with, according to Wikipedia, his first mixtape Sports Center Vol. 1.

Released in 2004, this tape is a No Limit affair - the only project I’ve discovered of dudes that bears his first labels stamp. This copy is not the best quality, but everything is listenable and will let you hear the hot spitta as a young emcee just starting to develop.

While he has recently paired with his fellow No Limit refuge Fiend, they are not gettin busy together on this record. Mr. Marcello makes several appearances. C-Murder spits a few bars. Master P, Lil Romeo and a chick - that I’m thinking could be Rom’s sister, get down on a track next to Currensy as well.

I was never buying No Limit releases growing up, but what I know about the label seems to be represented here. Gone is all of the weed talk Currensy is known for today. In it’s place is a fair amount of gangster shit, stereotypical nonsense that shows me probably why I was never checking for him for so long. Elsewhere he talks about money, girls, etc. I’m intrigued to learn about Currensy’s youth, because if this is at all serious I think he may have grown up in the No Limit camp much like Lil Wayne with the Cash Money crew.

Like most mixtapes of this era most of the beats heard are jacked from the hits of the day. A few originals slip in and they are pretty bad. Cheap synths and lackluster 808s barely hitting anything do not make for good rhyming. Over the wide array of selections Currensy and the guests rock over no one ever really sounds great. Currensy was not the smooth rapping cat he is today six years ago.

While he pulls off a decent cadence on “Crush On You” he sounds way to soft for a track like “Gangster Music.” Listening to him struggle on some tunes, show hints of what’s to come on others is the only reason I can say you should download this tape. I love seeing the growth and advancement. Currensy has done a lot of that on many different levels. Sports Center Vol. 1 is essential only for the completests.

Download it here.