G-Unit drops ‘The Lost Flash Drive’ which offers a great #TBT (30 For 30: Day 2)

Our contributor Ghost will write thirty stories in thirty days. Day two features a review of “The Lost Flash Drive” by G-Unit — which is a fantastic #TBT.

We’ve all had those moments where we put something on a hard drive only to misplace it, and if lucky, we find it later.

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That’s the case for the latest G-Unit mixtape, The Lost Flash Drive which dropped earlier this week.

DJ Whoo Kid and Tony Yayo were going through the G-Unit offices looking for who knows what when they stumbled upon an old flash drive containing tracks meant for The Beauty of Independence and The Beast is G-Unit releases.

Over the course of eleven tracks, the various combos of Buck, Banks, Yayo and Kidd Kidd prove their worth.

Despite the lack of radio success those releases had, the content is as sharp and as potent as ever. 50 Cent makes his lone appearance on a bonus track.

Tracks such as “Set The Pick” and “It’s a Stick Up” show exactly how much of a lyrical force The Unit still provides. On “It’s a Stick Up” everybody is in rare form.

Kidd Kidd comes through with his subdued version energetic flow while threatening to “rob you in a Mardi Gras mask.”

Yayo delivers a Michael Jackson reference and analogy that somehow doesn’t make you cringe. Lloyd Banks reminds everybody why he is still the punchline king. Buck cleans things up with a gritty verse.

“Set The Pick” is one of the highlights on the tape. Over a soulful beat, the combination of Kidd Kidd, Banks and Yayo let out a few of their frustrations with the industry.

Kidd Kidd starts things out letting everybody know that he’s tired of not coming up on a brick and that if he can’t make anything work, he’ll take it from you. Banks follows suit with his scorching opening line:

"“Yo f*** your interview. That lil buzz you got is political. 
I knock your pride out, I’m dumbin’ down still, too lyrical”."

Yayo manages to hold his own and puts a nice bow on things by doing his typical “f*** you, I’m gonna brag” style.

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However, the real highlight of this tape is Young Buck and especially the “Free Young Buck Freestyle”.

Over the course of six minutes, Buck takes on several classic beats such as Outkast’s “SpottieOttie” and “Elevators”.

He manages to pen several stories of slanging drugs. Meanwhile, he chronicles his recent struggles — all while switching up his flow and riding each beat perfectly.

This tape is a perfect reminder of what G-Unit is capable of producing.

Despite their current standing with radio and the average fan.

Everything is still there: the chemistry, the brashness, the lyrics and the production. The only thing that is missing is the machine behind them.

To be honest, maybe that’s what The Unit wants from this tape. In fact, the group seems best when free of restrictions.