Autobahn Flow - Middlez

What's going on guys? I know I just release a review but why not? The homie just released his album and of course I need to write a review for it. I reviewed his mixtape when it dropped and was a big fan of that, so of course I was interested in the follow up.

Autobahn Flow - Middlez

Ok so before we go any further I gotta dedicate this review to Duke, a member of the Middlez family, who passed away a couple of weeks ago. Not gonna act like I knew him or anything but to everyone in the Middlez family, this one is for him and I am sorry for your loss.

Autobahn Flow Intro

I didn't really know what to expect from this song honestly. His last mixtape started with a chopped and screwed song that sounded amazing so I had a feeling that this intro would not disappoint and it really didn't.
I really like the way that this song begins. It has one of those dream-like vibes to it. It's a super laid back song even once the beat fully kicks in. Usually when the beat drops in a song it's not completly mellow and laid back like this, but somehow this beat adds energy to the song while keeping the mellowness intact. I think that the energy of this song mostly comes from the way that he effortlessly flows over the beat and from the fact that he has a very interesting delivery in this song. I think that this is a very strong intro to this album.
This is a personal thing but I like how he calls himself the "fresh prince of Benztown". For those of you who don't know Germany (which will probably be most of you guys), Benztown is Stuttgart. It's the capital of the German state of Baden-Würtemberg and not only the place where Middlez is situated, but also the place where I went to high school and grew up. The reason it is called Benztown is because the Mercedes-Benz cars are manufactured there. Another reason I think it's important is because it is, in my opinion the capital of German rap music. I mean sure Berlin and Munich have their own rap scenes, but Stuttgart has Danju and Cro, who are the two best german rappers out right now. I've seen Middlez in some music videos from the two of them and he also has a song featuring Danju, so that's kinda big deal.

Middlez Lane

Ok, so first off all, I really like the name change from Doughnuts to Middlez. It was a very good call. Middlez is a much better rap name than Doughnuts. 

To be quite honest I throughly enjoyed this song and this song's second verse is actually one of my favorite verses I've heard in a quick minute. His flow on this song is actually crazy. The beat continues the dream-like feel of the album while his flow just keeps the vibe going. The beat on this song is mesmerizing. I am very impressed with this song. 

His flow on this song is actually crazy. If you guys want to see some growth in a rapper, please check out his last mixtape. ( Review here)

The growth is undeniable and if you guys frequently read my reviews you will know that growth is a huge deal to me. If a rapper isn't showing growth and just making the same old stuff why should we care? If you aren't showing growth why the hell should we listen to your new stuff when we can just bump your old stuff and it has the same effect or is even better since it was a fresh approach? Change is always good, especially when it comes to rap music and the saying "If it's broke don't fix it" doesn't apply to rap music at all.

See What I See

I'm 80% sure that the guy who made this beat is the same one that Cro uses. I might be wrong, but the beat just has the sound of one of Cro's songs. Usually I would be upset about this, but the fact that Middlez, who is American and a rapper from Chicago, tried a new style and killed it, is very impressing. 

Anyways, lets get back to this song. I really like the beat, it might partially be because the fact that is a very german rap sounding beat, but it's mostly because Middlez actually kills it. 

Again he effortlessly flows over the beat. Not only are his verses very good and fit perfectly to the beat but the hook also fits perfectly. We are three songs into this project and you can already tell that he and everyone else that was involved with this project put a lot of effort into this project.

Rollin

This is another interesting beat. It fits well with the dream-like vibe that this album has, but once it drops it adds this drum set to it and it gives this song a lot of energy. It still keeps the dream-like vibe to it due to the fact that it just kinda adds the drums on top of the beat. It works pretty well. This is one of those songs that you show to your friend, who doesn't really like rap to ease them into listening to rap music and I'm really not mad at it. 

If I had to describe this song in one word I think I would use the word: "Clean", because this song is hella clean. The beat is wonderful and he again easily flows over it. 

This is another really strong song on this album.

420km feat Danju

If you are reading this blog do yourself a favor and watch the music video to this song. It's less than four minutes long and actually a really cool and interesting video.
I have a lot to say to this song, because not only did it surprise me and impress me at the same time, but it honestly is one of my favorite songs of 2016 and we had a whole lot of great songs in 2016. The reason this song did all of that for me is due to the fact that this song does everything right. Every single thing.
The beat is very well produced and interesting. That Piano is actually wonderful and I like how the beat is built around it.
The Danju feature is absolutely insane. So first of all, no one outside of Germany is going to know who the hell he is, but that's not a big deal. This isn't a song for the English only speakers, although even if you can't understand German you should most def listen to this song. Middlez snaps on this song and it is wonderful. But back to Danju for a moment. In my honest opinion Danju is the best German rapper. This is due to the fact that the biggest German rapper, Cro, actually doesn't make rap, but this self-proclaimed RAOP, which is a mix of rap and pop, that was killing it in Germany. Danju actually raps and pretty much snaps on each of his songs. In my opinion Danju is the best german rapper. His album is too crazy. It's funny, because whenever I talk about German rap music to my friends I either show them one of Danju's songs or this song. He might low-key look like a GTA character, but he still pops off and is like I said before my favorite German rapper. If more Germans viewed my blog I would definitely review Danju's album, which is one of my top albums of 2016. Who knows, I might review it even though not that many German speakers read this blog.
Let's get back to the main part of this review, which is Middlez. I am very impressed with this song. That might not mean much, but I listen to a whole lot of music and have very strong opinions about music. The reason I am so impressed with this is because of the fact that he has this crazy ass feature and he absolutely destroys him. Don't get me wrong, Danju goes in on this song, but Middlez completely blows him out of the water. Middlez pops off like never before and actually delivers some of his best lines with a great flow. I was really excited for this project but I never expected a song this crazy to be on it.

Take It Slow feat Big Doom

The feel of this song again is a mesmerizing dream-like feel and it really fits into the overall theme of this album. 

This song has another strong beat that is laid back with a certain energy to it.

Middlez is very good with fitting his flow to the beat and staying on it. I really like the moment when he actually switches it up and raps a line in German. It's a nice little thing that adds to the song and the pronunciation is also really good.

I think that the feature on this song is also very good. I don't know who Big Doom is, but he does a really good job on this song, so shoutout to him. 

Ich Bin Druff (I'm On Something) feat Deserb

When I first read the title of this song, I didn't know how to feel about this song. On one hand I was really excited because I didn't know if he was about to rap in German or what was going to happen. It turns out that he only speaks a little bit of German in this song and that the featured rapper is a german rapper.

I think that this is a pretty interesting song, but honestly I think it's the weakest song off of the album. Now that doesn't mean that it's a bad song by any means. 

Verdict

I'm starting this new thing with my reviews that before I actually give my final verdict I ask the artists for a few sentences regarding the project. Of course I'm not going to always be able to get this for every review, but for those that I can I will. I'm not going to edit any of this statements except if there are unintentional spelling mistakes or it just doesn't has big grammatical errors. Middlez is actually the first artist that I asked for a couple sentences. Here is what he has to say about his album:

" AutoBahnFlow in my opinion is a well balanced sound. It's not too low and it's not too high. It's right in the Middlez like me. It has a little bit of that mixed with a lot of that. I think music is based on on good vibes and feelings, not understanding. Because nowadays you can totally understand a song but not feel anything at all. This is music with feeling."

I think that he makes a very interesting point with that statement and that he really hit the needle on the head with this project. It is it's own unique thing with it's own unique feel. Every song makes you feel something and that is quite the accomplishment. This project is in my top 10 for the year, which is really impressive because he's not a super well known or mainstream artist.

I also really like the growth that Middlez displays with this project. I think he finally found his sound and am really excited to see what he has in store for us for the future.