Certified Goon

the take

"Certified Goon" is Goonew's first solo mixtape (second overall), and you can definitely tell that it is. Like his following project "Beware of Goon", DJ 837 handles the hosting duties on here and Cheecho handled the majority of the production as heard on here. And also like the succeeding project, this definitely gives off that DMV sound (of 2017, at least) that I frequently enjoy. Before re-listening earlier this year, I can admit I wasn't too keen on this at first. I will admit that "Shots Fired" was always a standout banger to me, though. Fast forward to today and I regret not appreciating Goonew's solo effort a bit more. I mean, sure, I can probably do without that Goonew's remix on Tay-K's "Murder She Wrote" (it's not bad, but he doesn't really fit that song's sound), but overall this mixtape shows how Goonew can stand on his own and still handle a song with ease. Both "Drink" and the intro show how although Goonew was fresh on the scene at the time, he made sure he stuck out from the rest with both his flow and wordplay (the latter being sometimes simplistic and repetitious, but still works) and these two are perfect representations of that. And while the other tracks are at least good in their own right (especially "Beam on It"), it's difficult to ignore the main banger, "Shots Fired". Featuring Lil Dude, this would mark the beginning of their collaborations together that led to their (unofficially self-titled) collaboration mixtape "Homicide Boyz". The two bounce off of each other with ease the entire time, easily showing that they made a great team. Overall, I'd put "Beware of Goon" above this, but only slightly. "Certified Goon" really lived true to its name, for real.