The Mind of Mystikal

May 08, 2008

The Mind of Mystikal · by Abe Beame

It may be heresy around these parts to suggest there was any redeeming value to the infamous “No Limit Movement”, but if you were pressed to choose something, it would have to be the body of work put forward by Michael Tyler, known to the world as Mystikal.

Tyler was a Gulf war veteran who was born and raised in New Orleans’ 12th Ward, becoming one of – if not the first – Hip Hop acts to get national recognition out of Crescent City (Also the first to get hated on, specifically by Cash Money’s UNLV as the focus of their classic character assassination “Drag em in tha river”). He dropped an independent self titled album in 1994 which garnered enough attention for the rapper to be signed to Jive and have his glorified demo repackaged with a few extra songs as The Mind of Mystikal, his best work to date.

It’s appropriate that Mystikal was a vet because he got his style from those big ass machine guns you see hanging off the edge of air craft carriers: Staccato bursts of concentrated fury. From his bio, Mystikal appears to have lived a fairly stressful, traumatic life and his verses were memorable for their intensity and emotion, which always seemed to be rage. In early 2004 Mystikal joined the growing list of Iraq war veterans incarcerated for violent crimes in the U.S.

Here’s a brief retrospect of the artist’s highlights and hidden gems.

Here I go
This is probably my favorite Mystikal song. It’s prototypical, displaying exactly what Mystikal does at his very best. He doesn’t really say anything here, and he doesn’t have to. The insidious, creeping, southern fried beat is a perfect backdrop for him to do whatever he feels like within the confines of the lazy drums, and he does. I love guys who practice this sort of abstract delivery. (See: Freeway, Lil Wayne) You get the impression that the rapper has some idea of what he’s going to say but absolutely no idea how he’s going to say it, and in the booth this brilliant jumble of slowed down utterances and hurried barks comes out in a guttural growl that keeps the listener riveted. It’s employing your voice as an instrument, or as Mystikal himself states on “Y’all ain’t ready”, the first song on this album, singing his raps. Mystikal might be the best in the business at doing just that.

Who Run this Shit ft. The Ol Dirty Bastard
This song gets the dubious distinction of being the best moment on the “I Got Tha Hook up” Soundtrack. It’s also the least likely yet most appropriate Russell Jones soundtrack collaboration since he teamed up with Pras and Maya for Bullworth. Grit your teeth through a full minute of Master P playing hype man and you’ll be treated to some pure inebriated energy.

I Smell Smoke
You would think Weed is the only substance Mystikal doesn’t put in his system, but you’d be wrong. He’s angry as ever here, chastising you potheads who smoke a blunt of that boo boo after sorting out stems and seeds and lay back on your parents sofa in the den watching the Food Network On Demand. What I learned from this song is everything makes Mystikal mad.

Not That Nigga (Remix)
From an era when cheap synths hit hard as shit. In production as well as Mystikal’s rapid delivery, this has the feel of a breezy West coast fast rap. It seems like the idea was to lighten things up, which is a much better fit than the dark, gothic feel of the original.

Murder 2
The original version of “Not That Nigga” featured Mystikal’s sister Michelle, who was killed by her boyfriend, a grandson of one of New Orleans R&B legends the Neville Brothers just before Mind of Mystikal was released, probably why she isn’t on the hook for the remix. On this deranged song off his No Limit debut, Mystikal recounts the events that lead up to his sister’s murder and plots his revenge. Thunder rolls on the hook as Mystikal simply screams “Murderer”. What’s really chilling here is the total lack of sadness as the artist speaks to what must be an extremely heart wrenching subject. His delivery is full of the same brutal rage he brings to nearly every track. Murder in the second degree is defined as “a killing caused by dangerous conduct and the offender’s obvious lack of concern for human life.”

Shake Ya Ass
The Neptunes had already scored a major hit with Noreaga on “Super Thug”, a song which to this day I’ve never understood the massive appeal of. Here they come back with that beat’s polar opposite, a dreamy organ over vibrant drums. Mystikal comes in with his dick in his hands, Jay-Z wants a beat just like it, and the rest is history.

Neck Uv Da Woods ft. Outkast
Another Soundtrack banger, this one off “The Wood”, which as Phil Da Agony once noted, has no rappers from Inglewood anywhere near it. Mystikal showcases his surprising versatility without compromising his style, (Check for the Cash Money sublim) Dre and Big Boi bring it as well. It’s mainly included here for the classic Organized Noise beat, landing somewhere between their work on the introspective, spaced out ATLiens and Stankonia’s cosmic slop.

Mystikal Fever
In the fall of 2000, women of a certain carriage fell victim to a rare disease specific to Mystikal fans. The artist reports from the frontlines on this outbreak over a bootleg Manny Fresh beat. Don’t ask me why but I love this song.

Bouncin Back
Something that’s surprising to me with the proliferation of Southern rappers and musical traditions being injected into Hip Hop is the lack of New Orleans brass powered production. Swizz’s marching band sample on Yung Wun’s “Tear it up” comes to mind, as well as New Orleans’ Jam Band staple Galactic’s Hip Hop fusion project from last year “From the Corner to the Block.”, (Great concept, lackluster execution) that’s about it, anything I left out? Mystikal is obnoxiously restrained on this mainstream intended single, which unfortunately was the best song on this shitty final contribution before he headed to jail, but the beat is the story. The Neptunes play two horns against each other over a ton of cow bell, and the result feels like double fisting hand grenades on a stroll through the French Quarter.

Comments for "The Mind of Mystikal"

good post Abe, glad to see this album get some recognition around these parts. Nicely written up too.

— B. Ware tha Siniq May 8, 11:23 AM
I was checkin’ for dude way back when he was Mystikal Mike when my cousins from N.O. wouldn’t stop raving about him. He’s always been nice with it. The “Neck Uv Da Woodz” video was some next level shit as well. Nice write up.

One.

— Dart Adams May 8, 12:29 PM
Um, Ice Cream Man is just as good as anything Mystikal ever did. No Limit has a lot of great records. I thought in our post-post-ironic era this wasn’t even in doubt.

— Tray May 8, 12:57 PM
OMG OMG QUASI-IRONIC RETROSPECT LOVEFEST ALL RAP IS GOOD RAP FREEDOM IS SLAVERY OMG OMG

— R.H.S. May 8, 01:41 PM
this is so trooo. mystical is soooo dope! this is one of the few rappers i liked when their albums came out. AND YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!

— sebastiaN May 8, 03:12 PM
Interesting that the write up has Mystikal’s lockup connected to his service.

On a wholly unconnected note, Phil da Agony is a garbage.

— sankofa May 8, 04:48 PM
“like a paun-shop tech-nine/bitch, i’m known for jammin’”

— dante severe May 8, 10:54 PM
“Bouncin’ Back” was also pretty explicitly a 9/11 song (he mentioned this in an MTV interview at the time), which I think makes it even more interesting. It’s actually one of my favorite songs from him.

But compare country music 9/11 songs – the ones I can think of are either angry/defiant (“we’ll put a boot in your ass, it’s the American way”) or mournful/redemptive (“Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day…”).

By contrast, Mystikal got LESS angry, and made a party track (I guess it’s in the redemptive mode, but it’s certainly not mournful).

— David May 9, 12:01 AM
im surprised that “y’all ain’t ready yet” song wasnt on here. that track was LARGE in philly when Mystikal popped off.

— khal May 9, 10:12 AM
Does rhs think he’s funny?

— Tray May 9, 08:54 PM
Ay RHS come through Pyramid Lounge on Sunday my dude is performing after winning the End of the Weak MC Challenge. You can bring your little homie divine to sign up for a battle some time maybe?

— T. Reynolds May 10, 02:30 AM
I recently played him on one of my mixtapes and I was surprised to see how much I bounced! My fav Mystikal momement was in the Master P collab video. I was like Whoa..

— DJ Diva May 11, 01:08 AM
“Interesting that the write up has Mystikal’s lockup connected to his service.”

Yeah, my sentiments precisely. That’s good rap journalism there. Most conventional press would have Mystikal hanging from a tree about that incident.

— Jay B May 12, 08:01 PM
a second for “y’all ain’t ready yet”... if for nothing else just the pure range of vocal tonality…

...and for rhyming osh-kosh-be-gosh with be-ah-iy-atch.

oh, and “three things i’m a never do… one, never change my style, two, never gonna bounce, three, never gonna bounce”... genius.

— scott May 14, 04:38 AM
i say one thing cheap paxil 5510

— sylvia May 14, 06:27 AM
i think the word is “staccato” not statacco

— that guy May 15, 12:01 AM
^ nice catch, fixed.

— David May 15, 02:05 AM
excellent post.

— Altapills May 15, 08:19 AM
“Swizz’s marching band sample on Yung Wun’s “Tear it up” comes to mind, as well as New Orleans’ Jam Band staple Galactic’s Hip Hop fusion project from last year “From the Corner to the Block.”, (Great concept, lackluster execution) that’s about it, anything I left out?”

The brass band sample was actually something of a staple in earlyish bounce music.

— noz May 27, 02:30 AM
who does mystikal sample here i go from?

— fmac Jun 21, 11:11 PM