Name: German Luger

Mixtape: The Gutter, Gully and Gullable ... Chapter 1

Hometown: Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York

Joints to check for: "Cocktail," "Gutter," "The End!"

Previous mixtapes: He has a whole catalog of releases from the 1990s

The 411: "The game will let us in!" goes the tag line on German Luger's first mixtape. Having spent a year hustling for a record deal, the 23-year-old Brooklyn slugger is tired of riding the pines, so he's cutting through the red tape and politics by dropping a mixtape.

Germ has a distinctive sound, but hearing his Spanish accent, witty wordplay and effortless flow on "Gutter" may remind listeners of a young Big Pun.

"Rico is the team laser beam to your spleen/ Things ain't all what it seems," the young rhyme-thrower spits. "The strong stay in power; why playa-hate us?/ We ain't leaving till the cops come and vacate us."

On "Floor Drop" you can hear the hunger in German Luger's voice as he raps about partying till the dance floor needs renovations. Meanwhile, the freestyle "Against U!" warns the industry that he's "the hardest from New York" and ready for warfare.

In other news, the only thing Nas and Kelis are ready for this week is thug lovin'. The betrothed duo pop up on a joint effort between DJ Omega and DJ Cynna Mixx called Natural Born Mixers. "God's Son" and Ms. "Milkshake" don't actually perform on the CD, but they do host and introduce new songs like Joe Budden's "What's Good," a posse cut featuring Roscoe P. Coldchain and the Clipse called "Take It Personal" and an unreleased G-Unit record, "Stay on the Grind."

DJ Vlad, who most recently made noise with the Tupac edition off his "Rap Phenomenon" mixtape series, has dropped a new disc titled Vlad the Butcher on which he unveils new hip-hop blends and features MCs such as Pac, Notorious B.I.G. and Xzibit.

For other artists featured in Mixtape Mondays, check out Mixtape Mondays Headlines.

For a full-length feature on the role of mixtapes in the music industry, check out [article id="1474726"]"Mixtapes: The Other Music Industry."[/article]