Just when I had all but given up hope on Ali Vegas ever dropping an album...dude comes through with a solid new mixtape. If y'all aint familiar, Vegas has been spitting sick since he was all of 16 years old in the late 90's. He appeared on the classic In Too Deep Soundtrack, was a staple on the mixtape circuit, and widely considered one of the best young guns in NY for a hot minute. He was cosigned by both AZ + Nas and his style was heavily influenced by both emcees with a little Jigga-esque swag thrown into the mix. After getting signed by the Trackmasters imprint on Columbia, it looked like dude was destined for the big leagues with his debut album "Generation Gap", but after a brief beef with DJ Clue and his own young artist Fabulous Sport, Vegas was blackballed by a bunch of NY DJs and eventually opted out of his deal and the finished album was shelved forever.

Not soon after, Vegas disappeared from the entire scene for a few years but came back with a vengeance after being signed to Tommy Motolla's Casablanca label. After dropping a few mixtapes to build up a buzz, Ali recorded another full length debut "Who Needs A Pen" only to get pushed back and jerked around a bunch of times until Ali got fed up and decided to bounce. Needless to say, after a slew of bad deals and recording two full albums that were never released, many (including me) thought Vegas was just destined to fail. Yet in '06, he created his own label, "Rich Soil Entertainment" with his longtime friend and NBA Lakers star Lamar Odom. Ali has been hard at work in the studio recording his debut which will yet again be titled "Generation Gap" and will be released later this year. The album is set to feature production from DJ Premier, Scott Storch, Cool & Dre, Midi Mafia and guest spots from Akon, Styles P, Sammie, Omarion, Nas, and more. At 25 years of age, Ali is already a veteran in his career at a time when most dudes are just starting out. Hopefully he'll be able to fill that "Generation Gap" and finally establish himself as one of hip-hop's elite in 2008.

For anyone unfamiliar with Ali Vegas, you can check out his new mixtape "Leader Of The New School" mixed by Statik Selektah below. Check out the standout tracks "Everyday Is A War" produced by Premo, "The Future" produced by Statik, and his first single: "The Town Bought It" produced by Cool & Dre.

ALI VEGAS - LEADER OF THE NEW SCHOOL (2008)
1. Intro
2. Everyday Is War (Prod. by DJ Premier)
3. That's Nothing (Snippet)
4. The Future feat. Termanology (Prod. by Statik Selektah)
5. The Town Bought It feat. Dre (Prod. by Cool and Dre)
6. Be There
7. Av Freestyle
8. Cold Steel Freestyle
9. Geto Boy Freestyle
10. Point Blank Freestyle
11. You Know My Steez Freestyle
12. MCs Act Like You Know Freestyle
13. That's Where I'm From
14. Can't Believe It
15. In Love
16. Faithful Freestyle
17. Breakadawn Freestyle
18. Check The Rhime Freestyle
19. Paper Thin Freestyle
20. No Money feat. Poppo
21. Creole Freestyle
22. Lack Of Respect feat. Mala Reignz
23. What's Goin' On
24. Ali Vegas Outro

As an added bonus for those of you who haven't heard any of Ali's older material, here's a few essentials from his catalog including his unreleased original debut album "Generation Gap", and his two best mixtapes "Rebirth Of A Prince" and my personal favorite and damn near classic "Heir To The Throne"...


ALI VEGAS - HEIR TO THE THRONE (HOSTED BY DJ ON POINT)
01. Intro
02. Game Over
03. Ya Don't Want None
04. Industry Talking
05. Murder
06. Problems
07. Mad At Me
08. Critics
09. Realest
10. Get It
11. If I
12. Respect Freestyle (ft. Domination)
13. Celebration
14. Throw Ya (ft. Vic Damone)
15. Mecca Millz
16. Gangsta Boogie
17. Me, Myself & I (ft. Beyonce)
18. Ya Not Ready
19. I'll Be There ft. Mya
20. Story To Tell
21. Anyone (ft. Sleep)


ALI VEGAS - REBIRTH OF A PRINCE (HOSTED BY BIG MIKE)
1. Intro
2. Words From Prince
3. Victory Feat. Pbs
4. The Edge
5. That's Freestyle
6. The Intermission
7. Veg Is Like Freestyle
8. Damage Is Done Freestyle
9. Words From The Prince
10. The Ghost Freestyle
11. Industry Takeover Feat Pbs, Mekka Millz And Saigon
12. Rumble
13. Words From The Prince
14. Feel Like A King
15. Venting Freestyle
16. Words From The Kid Big Mike
17. Whatever Freestyle
18. Warning Freestyle Feat. Pbs
19. Words From The Prince
20. The Return Freestyle
21. My Life Feat. Leeia
22. Rags To Riches
23. Words From The Prince
24. Nuthin But Gangsta Feat. R.A.P,
25. Problems
26. Grammy Speech


ALI VEGAS - GENERATION GAP (UNRELEASED ALBUM)
01.The Co-Signing (Ft. AZ)
02.Theme of New York
03.Queens
04.The Specialist
05.I'm From The Ghetto
06.It Aint Hard To Tell
07.Brothers Respect Mine
08.Narcotics
09.Lyrics and Melody
10.Betrayal Of A Thug
11.Quiet Money (Ft. AZ)
12.Tuff Guy (Ft. Half-a-mil)
13.It's Time (Ft. Sleep)
14.It's Like That (Ft. Nature)
15.One World