Casey Veggies
Customized Greatly Vol. 3
4/5
All good things worth keeping come to those who wait… and those who work their butts off. That’s exactly what Los Angeles’ own Casey Veggies had at the forefront of his mind five years ago when he ventured on making Customized Greatly Volume 3 (CGV3), which dropped fresh last week. CGV3is the pinnacle of Veggies’ three-part mixtape series that began when he was 13 years old withVolume 1 (2008). Two years later at 15 and Casey released Volume 2. However, in between Vol. 2and CGV3 he released Sleeping In Class in 2010 and a Deluxe Edition in 2011. To say that Caseyhas been on his grind would probably be an understatement. But to say he’s had a steady vision for an original and acclaimed project is most definitely correct.
“Toe Tag” and “Verified” are the tape’s signature bangers that’ll get you turnt up as much as hype up the rest of CGV3. Veggie’s versatility between all 17-tracks are what ought to be noted though. The kid can do colder songs like “When You See The Kid” or “PNCINTLOFWGKTA” (yes, that’s seriously the title…) but can also take it back to the jazzy side of Hip Hop with tracks like “Thoughts Weigh” and “Garden” that allow you to listen more clearly to what he’s saying rather than what he’s doing with the rest of the song. Casey also puts us on his relationship tip with “Maybe, I Should Go” which proves that CGV3 truly does have a track for various Hip Hop moods.
httpv://youtu.be/AaeuvnxlTsY
The refreshing list of features is definitely to note, too! One of my favorite female vocalists and a fresh face to Hip Hop and R&B, Jhene Aiko, lays it down among other underground commodities such as Tyler the Creator, Domo Genius, Hodgy Beats, and Raheem Devaughn. Casey fully uses the advantages of other upcoming talents. The voices and styles of each feature matches perfectly with Veggies’ audible presence.
There are albums that just fit, the ones where fans get. CGV3 is one of those. Everything from the mixing & mastering, to Veggies’ lyrical tone, to the time of the year it dropped is perfect for its content. This last characteristic seems to go overlooked, but when a project is released makes a difference in how it’s received by the people. The key to knowing the right timing is to know your own material from the inside out. What kind of message are trying to send? What is the overarching mood evoked? And most importantly, what you do want your audience to take away from your music?
Mr. Veggies is only 18 years old but this project begs to differ. His consistent attitude for greatness proves it. The sequence of tapes were planned from the start and CGV3 is particularly an ode to his peers: “I worked hard on this…I had thoughts of it when I was making Sleeping In Class. I knew I wanted to do this. I do this for the youth. I wanna show the world that young people can be great”… And underground greatness is what he delivered. Customized Greatly, Vol. 3 is a testimonial to the underground that hard work and following through on a well-grounded vision pays off. I’d say, Casey Veggies was most definitely paid in full.
CGV3 is the best of the series thus far. But because Casey Veggies is still young and has incredible potential, I don’t think he’s reached the tipping point of his career quite yet, which is why I present it with 4 stars. However, this is great for us fans because it means there’s much more delicious Veggie-greatness to come! In the meantime listen & download CGV3 onhttp://caseyveggies.com/music/ where you can also peep the equally appealing visuals to “Verified (Everything Official)”!
Review by: Stephanie Nicole Jones – journalist
@Stephnicojones
