Curren$y's Top 5 Mixtapes

New Orleans native Curren$y might be part cyborg. Either that or they’re putting something in the weed down there, because the man is prolific in a way that few other artist can achieve and still retain top quality.

According to Wikipedia, Curren$y has released 12 albums and 33 mixtapes. That doesn’t count the endless features and one of singles he’s released either, all while touring, working on his Jet Life clothing label and discovering rappers like Stalley. Oh, can’t forget his recently released The Owners Manual mixtape, which hasn’t even made its way onto the Wikipedia page yet.

Patiently waiting for The Carollton Heist we’ve put together a list of Curren$y’s Top 5 Mixtapes (or “free projects,” since the quality is so good on most). It wasn’t easy. Let us know how far we have our heads up our asses in the comments section.

#5.  Saturday Night Car Tunes

Curren$y released Saturday Night Car Tunes without any warning in 2014, one of a few projects he’s released in that manner. The title showcases the clever wordplay that Curren$y is known so well for, as well as his fascination with muscle cars.

This mixtape features a varied set of beats, with a few features thrown in for good measure. Spitta Andretti even lets Birdman hop on a track, surprising since Curren$y was once Cash Money’s chosen son before he opted to stay underground and spurned a move toward the mainstream. It should be a move we’re all thankful for.

The sound varies from jazzy samples, to trappy beats to wild vocal samples, and Curren$y is comfortable navigating all of them. It’s a short tape, but that’s never taken anything away from a rapper who has so much music out.

HIGHLIGHTS: “10 Gs Remix” feat Birdman & Gunplay, “Music n History”

#4. New Jet City

New Jet City released at the beginning of 2013, and it marked a turning point in Curren$y’s career. Coming off the critical acclaim and high-profile features of 2012’s The Stoned Immaculate, Curren$y was able to upgrade the polish on his beats, the quality of his vocals and the profile of the features on New Jet City. The presence of Juicy J, Jadakiss, and French Montana show Curren$y recognition beyond his region or his weed-focused lane of artists.  You could call this “modern era Curren$y.”

The beats are huge on this track, featuring a lot of distorted and digitized synths throughout. The bass is bigger than ever, and the trap snares that are now so popular are all over the tape. Curren$y has traded in his jazz samples for spaced out trap. Spitta incorporates his signature referential rhymes into the movie theme (the title is a play on “New Jack City”), but keeps his doja references going strong.

What’s beautiful about Curren$y (and the reason some people dislike him) is that despite his changing circumstances, he doesn’t change how he flows or what he raps about. He might be spitting in a different cadence, but any changes to his sound are simply refining what he already has, not changing who is as an artist.

HIGHLIGHTS: “Clear” featuring Jadakiss, “Coolie in the Cut” feat. Trademark, “Bitch Get Up” feat. Juvenile

#3. How Fly

Back in the day, before Wiz Khalifa made his way to the top of the Billboard charts and headlining festivals, he and Curren$y were in the same lane and close friends to boot. They’re still close friends, but Wiz’s celebrity obligations make it much more difficult to pull off something like the 15-track How Fly from 2009.

The joint project (heh…) centers mainly on the consumption of marijuana (as most of Curren$y’s tapes do) and the presence of the equally pot-friendly Khalifa kicks things up a few more notches. The beats are a bit more upbeat than Curren$y’s more recent style, perhaps due to the passage of time or Wiz’s presence. Khalifa’s lyricism peaked around this time as well, although that is debatable.The tape has reached almost legendary status among Spitta and Wiz fans, and you can see at least one person clamoring for the always promised but never delivered sequel whenever a Wiz Khalifa or Curren$y project comes up.

There are no features to speak of on this record, a pretty impressive feat given the profile of both artists. It helps to feed the narrative (unconfirmed) that the two artists just kicked it for a week and recorded the whole thing.

HIGHLIGHTS: “Car Service,” “The Planes,” “The Life”

#2. Covert Coup

Now we’re getting to the heavy hitters. Covert Coup is a favorite because it’s one of the first times Curren$y branched out into a new sound for an entire project. Before this record, his proclivity toward jazzy and funky samples was well-known, and even when he rapped over a different beat it would be a single track on a mixtape. For this project, producer Alchemist took him in a different direction, keeping some jazzy samples but applying a thick layer of digital grime and minor key samples.

The addition of Alchemist proved extremely helpful Curren$y, whose biggest weakness is probably a lack of focus within his projects. He’s never been one to release a “concept album,” but the aural consistency Alchemist provides throughout the tape does a similar job.

The pace of Curren$y’s rhymes picks up on this record, but he still displays the same preoccupation with double entendres involving cars, movies and sneakers. He also grabs a couple of notable features (not to belittle the other features) in Freddie Gibbs, who has continued to cement himself as a top-tier rapper, and Prodigy (of Mobb Deep). The Mobb Deep emcee recorded his first verse since being in jail for Covert Coup thanks to Alchemist’s affiliation to the group.

Covert Coup is Curren$y’s most consistent and distinctive free release. It sound almost menacing, an adjective the consistently lit rapper rarely earns.

HIGHLIGHTS: “BBS,” “The Type” feat. Prodigy, “Scottie Pippens” feat. Freddie Gibbs

#1. Smokee Robinson

It seemed only fitting that we give our top spot to the best offering from “mixtape era Curren$y.” He’s still rapping over other people’s beats on this one, but also begins mixing in his own tracks with features from artists who have reached the stratosphere since then. It was his last, great moment as a true underground artist, as he would release the acclaimed Pilot Talk just six months later.

While Curren$y isn’t quite as refined on this record as some of his later releases, he still has his charismatic delivery that makes even the most vapid weed raps sound great. From the moment Spitta Andretti opens the tape by flipping a line from Tupac’s “Picture Me Rollin’,” he has our full attention.

His proclivity for picking jazzy beats is present here, but Curren$y hasn’t fully settled into that lane and raps over popular beats for Ice Cube’s “It Was A Good Day,” Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg’s “Deep Cover (187um)” and Eazy-E’s “Real Muthaphukkin G's.” We also get a fascinating early version of “Audio Dope,” although it’s nowhere as dope as the second iteration that appears on his debut album.

Smokee Robinson may not be Curren$y’s most polished, most individual or his most complete work, but it’s Curren$y at his purest, in mixtape form, showing why he has been and will continue to be a staple of the rap game.

HIGHLIGHTS: “Reset,” “Fat Raps” feat. Chip Tha Ripper & Big Sean, “Life Under The Scope”