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Review: Foos Gone Wild’s New Mixtape Is the Timeless Summer Soundtrack to Unite All Barrios

3:09 PM PDT on July 22, 2022

Lil Mr. E, aka “your hyna’s favorite rapper,” is back. 

The mayor of Fooville and the sickest of them all just blessed us today with 15 bilingual tracks to bump all summer long. You can almost hear the collective bass speakers booming across the barrios, as the nearly 2 million followers of Foos Gone Wild are surely playing all 15 rolas on repeat. This album marks the second release as an independent artist and the genius behind the Foos Gone Wild phenomenon, an Instagram page that continues to bring foo culture to the mainstream.   

Lil Mr. E’s creative flow is firing on all pipas. His bars are faster. His beats are cleaner, and his genre-bending ability is even more effortless. Like the daily skits and voiceovers on his Instagram platform, his content not only makes you laugh out loud but also educates you on current affairs in an almost subliminal way. Undoubtedly, it’s this street-level genius ability of Lil Mr. E that has allowed him to soar past the dozens of other Mexican American and foo-based comedy accounts on Instagram, leading to collaborations with stars such as Mario Lopez, Danny Trejo, Xzibit, and others.    

Here is a song-by-song breakdown of all 13 tracks from Hot Foo Summer. 

Foos in the Hood 

Freestyling over Eazy-E’s masterpiece, “Boyz-n-the-Hood,” is an instant way to earn respect and reach the core foo psyche. There are lowrider sound effects and the distant sounds of opening up a can of Pisto. Our favorite bar is the one that starts with “Fuck Putin” and ends with “if you got ankle socks on, it’s time for you to exit the building.” Plus, we can’t wait for the animation of Lil Mr. E “doing lineas off a chancla.”  

Vitamin E

How fast has Lil Mr. E’s bars gotten? Fast. Fast enough that hearing him go off in this song for the first time will make you think “daaaamn, this foo can rap.” You can probably spend all summer trying to say his “peter piper packed a pipa” tongue twister and still never get it down. We suspect this tongue twister may even be a bonafide new “Foos Gone Wild” challenge, coming soon to a Foos Gone Wild story near you. That Dr. Green Thumb cameo, in the end, is the dank moon rock on top. 

Foo Summer 

Lil Mr. E’s self-titled track played over the Bananarama classic ‘Cruel Summer,’ lives up to its clever album name, featuring Zackey Force Funk and produced by Diamond Ortiz and Eddy Funkster. All that production talent in one song is balanced by an insanely catchy rhythm that is equally fit to bump out of a Lil speaker while biking through Imperial Beach or Venice or just getting stuck in traffic and catching a vibe. The whisper-toned chorus, “it’s a hot/foo, foo, summer,” is relaxing and entrancing at the same time. That homie from National City who gives everyone a shout-out and his torta blessings from the pin is proof that not even the long arm of the law is enough to stop you from enjoying this hot foo summer. Just make sure you can hang…

The Sick One Cypher Feat. Lil Traviesita  

One of our favorite quotes by Foos Gone Wild is his famous declaration: “Foo is gender neutral!” A Foos Gone Wild album is not complete without everyone’s favorite woman-identifying foo “Traviesita” going bars. Her latest rola is no exception. Starting off with an anti-drug intro: “I stopped smoking broken windows in 1986.” The rich imagery behind her lyrics are what makes it for us: “didn’t know if she was bleeding or just sweating chamoy.” However, not to be outdone, Lil Mr. E enters the mix later in this track and drops the mic with his line that sets up what might be our favorite bar in the album, “Back in the day, I used to sniff the coco, but now the cocaine just gives me chorro.” That extended “biiiiiitch” at the end of the song is near iconic status.

Jefita Said Knock You Out   

What’s a 90s-raised, viral, anonymous cholo rapper without a Spanglish ode to the classic by LL Cool J? This 46-second tease of a cover has everything: a tribute to Muhammad Ali, a mention of “Oscar de La Pipa,” and a cameo by street legend Estevan Oriol.

The Pipas Court Feat. Snake & Lil Traviesita Prod. by Eddy Funkster & DJ Dubplates 

All proud continuation school graduates and those who ditched high school to stay home on a weekday will surely get a thrill by listening to this song that captures those wasted days beautifully. To embody the mundane joy of watching cable-less daytime television—specifically small claims court shows—in a song is proof that Lil Mr. E is perhaps the most street-level virtuoso of our generation. The gang is all here: Chad Fresca, Traviesita, and Snake, who is apparently Chad Fresca’s brother?! The bar, “Our father was a bitch” resonates, maybe too deeply, for a lot of us. 

NET BANGER FEAT. N8NOFACE & CHAD FRESCA

Ey foo you a rocker? Lil Mr. E even has something for those of us who love aggressive and heavy music in this volume one. Naturally, he asked his homie N8NOFACE to throw in some guttural shouts at the top of his lungs and created a catchy beat that makes you feel like you are stuck in some kind of party line purgatory time warp. This is the anti-asshole anthem many of us who deal with anonymous trolls with burner accounts on Instagram have been waiting for. There is the usage of the word “leva,” which deserves an honorable mention always. As if a slightly heavier song wasn’t enough of a treat, “Glendale Gary,” one of the recent favorite characters in the Foos Gone Wild Universe, sets up the mood just right.       

Ice Cream Foo Freestyle

Slow, low, and dark enough to be the entrance song for The Undertaker, if he were to be rebranded and make yet another gimmick comeback as a cholo from hell or something like that, is the vibe behind this minute-long shorty. 

Listo 4 Pisto Feat. Diamond Ortiz     

Lil Mr. E shows the dynamic range of his artistry in this song directly inspired by early 90s DJ house party classics. He is not rapping; he is singing. It deserves a spot on any carne asada playlist, maybe right after “When I Hear Music” by Debbie Deb and right before “Summer Nights” by Lil Rob, who unsurprisingly makes a guest appearance at the end to bless everyone the only way that Lil Rob can. 

Foonilla Ice   

What started as a satire-based skit in an Instagram post on Foos Gone Wild made its way to a full-blown track. Foos Gone Wild demanded it, and Lil Mr. came through. This song remains fresh and makes foo culture the subject of the #1 one-hit wonder of all time. If you wanted to call Lil Mr. E a cholo-fied Weird Al Yankovich, this is the song to base that comparison on. Yet again, in a way that only Lil Mr. E can, he spreads positivity via his subliminal-like chorus: “Stop smoking ice-ice, baby. Stop calling ICE-ICE, baby. Hit the gym, not the pipas.” 

Edgar Mania Prod. by DJ Silly Kid   

You can’t release a “Hot Foo Summer” mixtape and not recognize the Edgars of the world. This is a shorty that will have you thinking “no quema cuh” and have you ready to take a photo of the next “BUSCO TOXICAS” decal in a lowered truck stuck on the 5 freeway.

Wicked Lines Feat. Snake Prod. by DJ CMEROCK 

Real 1s know that underneath even the most high-socked, L.A.-hat-wearing foo, is actually an insecure vato who feels very deep emotions. The samples pulled from Morrissey at his peak cuts deep in this song. Snake is almost in tears through every lick of this emo-leaning track, as are we as we navigate getting older, keeping our edge, and our own years of abuse. 

It’s a Mr. E to Me Prod. by Brian Ellis  

The shoegaze-type beat behind this final banger is Lil Mr. E’s way of waiting for you in his lowrider until you open the door of your home and make it safely inside before he bounces until the next album. He just took you on a figurative skante-fueled journey through the Foos Gone Wild universe, and whether you were on a sick 1 while listening to it on celebrating your third month being sober. It’s time to keep adding respect to Lil Mr. E’s name, who will go down as one of the most original rappers of all time to ever do it.

Hot Foo Summer Track List

1. FOOS IN THE HOOD (INTRO)
2. VITAMIN E
3. FOO SUMMER FEAT. ZACKEY FORCE FUNK prod. by Diamond Ortiz & Eddy Funkster
4. THE SICK ONE CYPHER FEAT. LIL TRAVIESITA
5. JEFITA SAID KNOCK YOU OUT
6. THE PIPAS COURT FEAT. SNAKE & LIL TRAVIESITA prod. by Eddy Funkster & DJ Dubplates
7. TRASH BAG BOYS
8. NET BANGER FEAT. N8NOFACE & CHAD FRESCA prod. by Wrist
9. ICE CREAM FOO FREESTYLE
10. LISTO 4 PISTO (FEAT. DIAMOND ORTIZ)
11. FOONILLA ICE
12. EDGAR MANIA produced by DJ Silly Kid
13. WICKED LINES FEAT. SNAKE prod. by DJ Cmerock
14. IT’S A MR. E TO ME produced by Brian Ellis
15. SICK ASS OUTRO (LAIC)

To get a copy of the Foos Gone Wild “Hot Foo Summer Mixtape Vol.1,” visit Foosgonewild.com. The album is included with a purchase of any merchandise item.   

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