In July 2009, I was introduced to Phil Ade. I didn’t know much about this guy, except that I would occasionally be accosted by his management or friends of his to give his music a listen. One hot summer day, I decided to give his mixtape a try. No idea why, really. Maybe it’s because he was a Nigerian-American like myself, or perhaps because  he was from Maryland, as I am, too. Shoot, it may even have been because R&B crooner Raheem Devaughn had recently signed him to his boutique label, 368 Music Group. Whatever the reason, I downloaded it, and uploaded the mixtape to my iTunes.

I know what you’re thinking: “We already have a Nigerian-American rapper representative from the DMV!” I can’t even front, their flows are somewhat similar, and with the distinct DC drawl, one could even say they sound alike sometimes. Fair assumption at first take. However, I think his subject matter and singing ability distinguishes him enough for the chit chatter to cease. The melodies he puts together for his hooks, like the mixtape’s standout, “Hollywood,” put him in another league, and I’m not talking about with KiD CuDi and other singsong rappers. He’s still got bars, and his singing doesn’t diminish the quality of his music.

Not to take anything away from your average arrogant rapper, rapping about things they haven’t seen or done but making it sound cool, but Phil’s music is something you can relate to, as cliche as that sounds. From his mixtape’s title, Starting On JV, you should be able to figure that much out.

Jam the samples, which are a variety of his sounds. If you like what you hear, grab the tape. And check out his latest video below.

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DOWNLOAD: Phil Ade – Starting On JV [Mixtape]

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