If you haven’t heard Paranoia Prison yet, do yourself a favour, sit down, maybe open a beer, if ya wana get real “Psych Ward” about it, run a bubble bath using nothing but milk, cookies and KY Jelly, hit play, and just listen. Listen to everything, from beginning to end and once you’ve finished listening to it, do it again, and keep repeating until it REALLY sinks in. Let it sink in that this kid is only 21 years old, TWENTY ONE, and he is telling stories that not even a 35 year old man could express, he is making jokes that would make a 17 year old quince, he can pull you in and give you goose bumps using nothing but his words, and thats just the first three songs. Trust me, get Paranoia Prison; it’s funny, its honest, its open, its sad, its enthralling and its free!
With an intro that leaves you wanting more already, COMPLETE, also known as Sheldon, literally introduces us to his paranoia prison, with what sounds like riots behind a well-penned, somewhat too realistic, suicide note and sirens, we get a quick but emotional glimpse into the deep mind of a young man who has seen more in his short spin on earth then most grown people will see in their entire lifes, and thats just the beginning.
But with a quick funky vocal and a stab we move straight into something much more upbeat. Using humour, quick flow and multi’s we are presented with a track that, quiet literally, details a “I-don’t-give-a-fuck” attitude we’ve come to associate with COMPLETE, not that this is a bad thing, if anyone can pull it off, its him. Not only are the lyrics what you expect from a man who wrote a song about sodomising an elderly women (Your Nanna) but they fit the beat so well its easy to forget that those without an…..unusual…sense of humour, may be offended by some of the lyrics, but f**k them, they’re just a over sensitive and should probably find a new genre of music. Problem is not the only song that follows the format of, “offensive to some but amusing to most”. We also get this in, My Penis, After Grog Bog & even I Spy (ft. Omac), but if your expecting nothing but the playful & ludicrous (in a good way) side of COMPLETE you will be sadly disappointed, but I can tell you this, that is a good thing.
My favourite side of hip hop is the side the tells a story, true or otherwise, and not just any story, but a story that is full of emotion, a story that can draw you in and give you chills, goosebumps and make your heart skip a beat. That is what the rest of Paranoia Prison did for me. Starting with The Troll, a tale about a sadistic, heartless troll that lives under a bridge and murders and rapes kids and adults, of corse its not as simple as that, and if someone where to sit down and turn The Troll into a movie, it’d probably make a million dollars. Other tracks that have the ability to make you hold your breath are Hooked, which is a song that details his struggle and life on the streets before cleaning himself up and becoming on of the best MC’s in the country. Popular Girl is another track that shares a story that majority of people have seen in girls from high school, starting out as a princess who thinks the bad boy in her class is “really cute”, until he corrupts her and makes her a “street queen”.
#LOVE is another incredible story, that seems like it took inspiration from Eminem’s Kim* but a modernised version that revolves around Facebook updates. COMPLETE has turned such a widely known product and turned it into a tool for evil, not many artist have an ability to do such a thing, not only does he just do it, he does it well and still makes it a song that is relatable and has a ton of replay value. The whole mixtape has replay value, every song is not just a bump-and-skip type track that some MC’s drop, but a beginning-to-end, “every track is worth a listen more then once” tape, especially the song Wooden Cross. A track that, to this day I’m not sure if it uses true elements, is a realistic tale of two young men who steal a car and get caught in one of the realest police chases I’ve ever heard described on a CD. Not just described but done with flow, raw emotion and still making every bar rhyme in a way that can not be replicated, the chase takes a turn for the worst, and the way it is described is gruesome, saddening and quiet literarily gave me chills. The first time I heard it I got quiet emotional, and I don’t really know why, I guess I just felt the exact emotions COMPLETE is trying to put across. And that is something very few people can do.
The mixtape finishes with all really emotional tracks, but one that I found is one of the best songs that has come out of the country, and one that I honestly believe can quiet literally save peoples lives. I Won’t Leave is, simply put, an anti-suicide song, but its NOT that simple, its something you need to hear to understand. If you have a shitty day, put this song on and all things that where getting to you just seem to leave your mind and you focus on the music, you focus on the positive outlook on life, something that more people need to do.
This tape NEEDS to be heard, not just by underground fans, but mainstream fans, fans of rock music, fans of punk music, fans of MUSIC need to hear this tape, people who love a good book need to hear this tape, people who like movies need to hear this tape, almost everybody NEEDS to hear this tape. With all of these songs I mentioned earlier, plus others like Normal (ft. Sever & Defekt), When Karma Comes, Get Off My Lawn (ft. Bitter Belief), Trojan Horse and Invisible its stacked with some of the best songs of the year, and hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if this mixtape IS the best one to drop this year. COMPLETE has not only SET the bar for MC’s, he lit it on fire and with every song you hear its like he’s throwing fuel on it with that instantly recognisable grin.
Paranoia Prison is a MUST HAVE tape it I can honestly say, it is one of the only few CD’s I can consider a 10/10
No Mans Land 