Ahh, Lil B. What can I even say? He’s a rapper that has been gaining a following online solely through social media. Twitter, FaceBook, YouTube, and more. He’s notable for his rather poor rapping skills, all caps tweets, hashtags, and alter ego known as “The Based God”. He wrote the book Takin’ Over by Imposing the Positive. He’s even giving a speech at NYU this week. Now, he’s released The BasedPrint Vol. II, because, as he says, “there’s no need for volume one”

It’s hard to describe Lil B’s appeal, but I would say that it’s because, he’s so ridiculous that it’s just fun to listen to. At least, it was that way until February’s mixtape, God’s Father. God’s Father was released to a huge amount of praise, and to me, it’s probably my favorite release of 2012 so far. Every one of the first 10 songs is an excellent production. On that tape, he really showed his rapping skills more than ever.

The first half of the mixtape is pretty mediocre apart from a few songs. “Where the Game Began” and “NYU” have some pretty good lyrics and flow, and are the highlights of the first ten songs.

“R.I.P. To the Competition” is slower and probably the most emotional song on the album, and has some great rhymes. “Lil B is A Legend” has sort of a smooth jazz beat, and his comments at the beginning of the song are hilarious.“Thug Love” is more of a harder hip-hop track, and it’s fantastic. Lil B’s flow is perfect and it’s musically on the level of any other top-tier rapper today.

“Worldwide” brings back the fantastic production from God’s Father. It’s a superb use of sampling and soft piano. “All In Me” has an addictive piano loop and his flow is absolutely on fire. I could listen to it for hours on end.

This mixtape isn’t perfect, but it’s got a few memorable tracks I can take away from it. It also shows me that Lil B isn’t stopping at God’s Father, he’s headed in the right direction with his music, and that excites me. For this mixtape, a 3.5 out of 5.