Milwaukee rapper Yo-Dot’s new mixtape, Dot Balistrerri, opens with a Godfather-esque orchestral interpolation of the infamous “you can’t stop me now” riff from The Whatnauts’ “Message From A Black Man,” before erupting a half minute later into the militaristic rumble of “Push Em Back Track,” its drums mixed so loud they implode under the weight of the compression. One track is soft, the other is heavy, but both are threats.
Where Yo-Dot’s peers in the Umbrella Music Group (UMG) tread the line between street rap and alternative rap, Yo-Dot chooses his alliance decisively, lacing up his Timbs for combat. “It’s still Burleigh, 38th street,” he raps. “Gun shots every night, neighbors can’t sleep/ dope fiends on the corner trying to score crack/ n****s pitch but without a baseball bat.”
Yo-Dot recalls a young Raekwon, not only for the excitability and grit to his voice, but for the depth of his cutthroat, Mafioso-rap storytelling. While Yo-Dot’s UMG cohort Prophetic, featured here on several excellent tracks, has parlayed his cool poise into local crossover success, charming a wider audience with feel-good fare like “Big Dreamer,” Yo-Dot has emerged as Prophetic’s darker shadow. He's too gritty for local radio play, but he's emerging as one of the city's most distinguished rappers, and Dot Balistrerri, available for free download here, is one of the UMG camp’s finest releases yet.
