I’ve been avoiding Charles Hamilton’s Sonic the Hamilton mixtape like a leper, and after reading Xplosive’s scathing synopsis of the mixtape I’m still not interested in it.

Peep game:

The conclusion I’ve drawn after listening to Sonic the Hamilton is that the hipster rap movement is nothing more than recycling of what we called backpack rap until about a month ago. The same people have traded in their backpacks and Ecko hoodies for Louis Vuitton man-purses and designer brand flannel.

Ouch! Catch more of Xplosive’s well articulated rant at Xplosive World.

Charles Hamilton – “Free Download”

It used to be that you needed big name collaborators to authenticate your career, especially before dropping an album. Charles Hamilton produced this one and rapped on it all by himself. We’re seeing more of that type of DIY lately. Are we entering the era of the self-made rapper?

Hamilton romanticizes terms and concepts that web users can easily identify with like no rapper has ever done. He did so with “Windows Media Player” and now “Free Download” continues the tradition. I have a love-hate feeling towards that Kelis sample. On one hand, it’s distracting; On the other, it adds some bloodflow to the track and makes it that much more compelling. Hamilton absolutely kills it.

No matter what you think of Charles Hamilton’s antics, you can’t argue that his style isn’t a breath of fresh air. Here’s a guy who actually approaches hip-hop from a fun perspective and all people care about is that he rocks more pink hats than even Cam’ron would approve of?

Peep the mixtape tracklist and download link after the gap.
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Charles Hamilton – “Windows Media Player”

Much like A.C.’s Apple-inspired “New Soul,” Charles Hamilton tries his hands at a Windows Media Player concept. He even worked the Windows theme into his beat. Very very interesting, to say the least. That shameless advertising on the hook was a little irritating, though.

Update: Charles Hamilton has responded in the comment section with his own opinion of the song. You gotta hand it to him for responding with a sense of humor.