The Big Hash’s “Aries” review
After some time being away from the music industry, The Big Hash finally returned with his highly anticipated mixtape, “Aries”, which is a precursor to “Heartbreak Hotel”.
Now going on to this mixtape, I won’t lie, that I had some high expectations as The Big Hash is one of the few artists I hold to a high standard and I must say that he truly delivered.
It is always gratifying to witness someone perform at a level you expect them to, so I could be more appreciative of the mixtape overall.
Now looking at the credits of the mixtape, The Big Hash managed to executive produce it alongside Flex The Ninja and AmoBeatz.
I must say that sonically, the mixtape sounds top tier so I’m not surprised it took him over a year to complete the project.
Below is the full track listing of ‘Aries’;
| No. | Song Title |
|---|---|
| 1. | No Days Off (Intro) |
| 2. | Still Breathing |
| 3. | Heavy Is The Crown (featuring Blxckie and YoungstaCPT) |
| 4. | Count My Blessings (featuring Flvme) |
| 5. | Karma (Interlude) |
| 6. | Let Me Know (featuring Ayanda Jiya) |
| 7. | Time Lost |
| 8. | Do You? (featuring Davionne) |
| 9. | Sometimes |
| 10. | The Trip (featuring Rowlene) |
| 11. | Peace Of Mind |
But getting into the mixtape in more detail, The Big Hash actually split it into two parts, where part one is referred to as; ‘Matters Of The Mind’ where he styles into his rapping capabilities showcasing his flows and his bars.
On ‘No Days Off (Intro)’ and on ‘Still Breathing’ as well, you could tell The Big Hash felt like he had something to prove because he had been gone for a while but he came out swinging with some of those bars and he was still talking about some real stuff and it’s like he never left.
On songs like ‘Heavy Is The Crown’ where he featured YoungstaCPT and Blxckie, as well as ‘Count My Blessings’ where he had Flvme on it, The Big Hash was keeping up and he still managed to be the standout of those songs.
Watch the official music video of ‘Heavy Is The Crown’ The Big Hash featuring Blxckie and YoungstaCPT below;
Therefore it is crazy how he makes everything seem so effortless because he’s like an extension of the beat, just making everything sound so well.
So one of my favorite songs on the mixtape has to be ‘Karma’, and it’s crazy to think that it was just an interlude, now even though he was talking about some real stuff in that song as well.
This dude was just showing off, I mean the hook is fine because it’s on some relatable stuff, like who doesn’t want to make it out of tough situations doing what they love whilst becoming rich and still spoiling their mom at the same time?
Who doesn’t want to settle previous goals by people who did wrong to you and I guess who doesn’t love seeing karma work in full effect especially when it’s towards your favor? So overall the song is fire and it is an excellent conclusion to the first part of the mixtape.
We then come to the second part of the mixtape which is referred to as ‘Matters Of The Heart’, where The Big Hash embraces his R’n’B side showcasing his vocals and melodies.
Having Ayanda Jiya open up the second part of the mixtape with, let me know was a beautiful addition because her vocals are something else and the way they were able to complement each other on the track was nice to hear, I really enjoyed that track a lot so shout out to both of them.
So listening to the second part of the mixtape, you come to find that The Big Hash experiences relationship problems just like the rest of us. And he exposes his insecurities and shows that he’s vulnerable, I actually appreciated that a lot.
He also comes to the realization that you have to let go sometimes and that some relationships have to end even though you don’t want them to, which can be tough.
He also realizes that some relationships are not meant to be and that no amount of effort you can put in can piece things together especially when your partner doesn’t want to, so I won’t lie, I personally fought a lot of things The Big Hash was saying.
I now have to talk about my favorite song from the mixtape, ‘Peace Of Mind’, I think The Big Hash laced this song with something because it’s too good of a song.
Listen to ‘Peace Of Mind’ below;
I won’t lie, as soon as it comes on, it stays on repeat like it’s got heavy replay value on my side. So just the stuff The Big Hash was saying resonated with me on a different level and the way it sounded sonically, it’s honestly out of this world.
I’m really glad we managed to get it back because if you guys don’t remember, it disappeared for a while when The Big Hash was going through his label problems with innanetwav, but he managed to sort that stuff out thankfully.
The Big Hash gave us a lot of vulnerability and introspection, but that’s what makes the mixtape so good.
Give us something we can relate to and the music will resonate with a lot of people. From what I witnessed, a lot of people enjoyed listening to the mixtape so I couldn’t be happier for The Big Hash, so shout to him for a really dope mixtape and I’m glad to see him back.
So with The Big Hash finally being free and independent, I guess we won’t have to wait that long for even more music to be released at a later stage.
I mean The Big Hash stated that ‘Aries’ is a precursor, it’s just a warmup, which is crazy to think so that just gets me wondering, what is ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ going to sound like?
And if you guys don’t know, The Big Hash actually has Zoocci Coke Dope executive producing ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, so it’s clear The Big Hash wants to come out guns blazing for his debut album.
We also saw what Zoocci Coke Dope did for rappers like 25K who had an excellent debut album, ‘Pheli Makaveli’, Die Mondez, and Priddy Ugly.
So Zoocci Coke Dope has got a track record that speaks for itself, so I just can’t wait to hear what The Big Hash’s debut album is going to sound like but for now, I’ve got ‘Aries’ on heavy rotation, and once again shout out to him for a really dope mixtape and it’s good to have him back.
