Gino Marley is one-third of the Savage Squad Records team. His sophomore mixtape “Raised In The Streets” is appropriately titled. In this tape, Gino gives listeners what they want- an authentic street experience.
Gino Marley hits the tape off with fellow Savage Squad Records label mates SD and Fredo Santana in the Deezy-produced song “Lotta Birds.”
The trio of emcees are expert Ornithologists, a scientific term for people who study birds. They deal exclusively with chickens.
The single gives listeners a sense of the trap music they can expect in this tape.
Gino raps, “Lotta birds in my view/Dope spot got them pigeons flying loose/And I stuff them in my coupe/In the kitchen, I just whip em til I’m through/Road trip and I drive em through to the new.”
Gino keeps this momentum going in “Importing,” a Tarentino production. Gino boasts his connects in this track, rapping, “I’m importing, my money pouring, my bitch deported/She flawless, couple hood b – – – – – s I know in Harlem/Porsha, she from Georgia, she trap the hardest/Molly and Mary Jane, they just start the party.”
Gino hooked up with D.C. rapper Fat Trel for song “Fallen.”
Gino touts himself as the head “Diego” in charge in his Dree The Drummer-producer track, rapping, “I’m Gino Marley, Diego my alter ego/Plug callin once a week, talkin bout bands and kilos/I load the truck and then it’s adios amigos/I’m takin trips to Rio, meeting with important people/I’m whippin work and what I’m cookin up is nito/I go to sleep at night with guns under my pillow/My money talkin, it say it don’t fuck with people.”
It may appear Gino glorifies the trafficking and sale of drugs. But he was thrust into the lifestyle after growing up impoverished in Englewood, Chicago. Gino provides a tale of this experience in song “A Lot.”
“I’m comin from where our families didn’t have a lot/I’m talking empty kitchens, with a couple pots/Shit forced me out the crib, so I played the block,” Gino raps.
Gino hopes to continue his grind, so his son won’t have to grow up in similar circumstances.
“My pockets need a lot, my peoples need a lot/Do anything and for my son I break my back a lot/In kitchen breaking pots, swear I did that a lot/And can’t forget from where I came and swear I learned a lot,” he raps.
Gino’s strongest guest feature comes from Danny Brown on song “If I Could,” a Protégé Beatz.
Gino’s lead single “Again” made its appearance on the tape. Gino spits wisdom in this track, rapping, “Catch me spendin’ money, same niggas I made it with/They say you eat food with who you starvin’ with/I say a friend ain’t a friend without an argument/And there’s repercussions comin’ with a consequence.”
Gino Marley put his all into this project. There was deep vividness in Gino’s account of street life. It was as if he kept a paper and pen nearby through his daily runs.
Gino put listeners in his shoes. Gino is animated at points in his tape portraying himself as the modern day Tony Montana. But he does drop some jewels as someone who lived and survived in the streets.
Those who lived in the streets can relate to this tape and others can get an authentic account of the streets from Gino in this project.
Download/stream Gino Marley’s “Raised In The Streets.”
For Updates, Be sure to Follow kollegekidd.com on Twitter @KollegeKidd by clicking here.
You can also stay up-to-date by liking kollegekidd.com FaceBook Page by clicking here
