If you've been following Gunplay’s erratic rise from misunderstood dude who liked to rap about Four Loko in Miami while some guys in the background did wheelies on ATVs to a hyperactive rapper's rapper then you've probably heard a few of these songs in much better audio quality. Much of this mixtape sounds like it was recorded from one shitty boombox onto another shitty boombox. But that's part of the appeal of Gunplay; as a certain portion of the rap world wait for him to finally put out his debut album, he keeps dropping these slim releases that collect his cameos on other people's records as well as too-brief freestyles and a few new originals. Cops & Robbers is not as good as last year's 601 & Snort, but it's still worth checking out to hear songs with Pusha-T and Alley Boy and, crucially, Yo Gotti, who has had an on-the-low consistent run of great songs for the last few years. As always though, Gunplay is the star of the show, his voice a hoarse rasp that ping pongs across any beat thrown his way. Bizarrely, when "Ghetto Symphony," from A$AP Rocky's Long.Live.A$AP appears on this mixtape, A$AP Ferg's excellent verse is completely excised. It's worth tracking the original version of that one down (not hard!) and subbing it out for the one that appears here, if only to hear Ferg compare rappers to Chips Ahoy! cookies just a few minutes after Gunplay tells you to give him what you owe him and also a Porterhouse steak.
Download: Gunplay, Cops & Robbers
