When I heard Bob Dylan's grandson, the almost-16 year old Pablo Dylan, put out a mixtape last week naturally I was confused and intrigued. Pablo cited his granddad as the "Jay-Z of his time" in an interview with AllHipHop.com, and if times really are a-changin', this kid has the opportunity to be the Hov of the next generation… maybe.
The mixtape, 10 Minutes (available for download here), actually runs a little over 22 minutes long. At first listen, it sounds generic - quick verses about girls and sex, repeating mantras of "haters gonna hate" and "bein' the best," and using ever-trendy autotuned choruses. Then you step back, realize this kid is a lot younger than you, and decide it's not too bad.
Pablo even gives Bob a nod on one of his tracks, the third, "Top of the World" - "I'm the grandson of a man nothing less than legendary / that's a lot of pressure… / While I'm at it I might re-invent sound..." - and it doesn't look like he's going to go near his relative's folk-roots any time soon.
Other highlights of the tape include: a sampling of Imogen Heap's "Just For Now," shout outs to his family, the cockiness and arrogance of a teen boy put into rhyme, and constant references to"bad bitches" (My favorite being from the track "Moment" - "Whats up to all the bad bitches that look so exquisite? / Take your number but I'm not gonna visit / Pab gonn' kill it / And eventually I'll hit it"). Nicki Minaj also spits the chorus on "Really Mad,"and Pablo delivers my favorite line of the entire tape - "There's no one better, and if you disagree / Then you should show me / I'm gone with the wind so you should blow me."
I think the whole mix can be summed up on the last track - his strongest by far, with a nice flow and no autotune, but not even two minutes of rhyme: "All I care about is money and the city that I'm from / I'ma sip it 'til I feel it / I'ma smoke it till its done / I don't really give a fuck and my excuse is that I'm young / and I'm only getting older…"
I'm interested to see where the young Dylan goes from here.
—Tina Graziose
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