Like clothing lines, posse albums are generally seen as opportunistic ancillary revenue streams for rap superstars eager to exploit their fleeting fame. Def Jam further lowers expectations for the major-label debut of Young Jeezy's amusingly named USDA crew by stamping "The Authorized Mixtape" on its cover. Yet Cold Summer exceeds the lax standards of the posse mix-tape with a chilly blast of Jeezy and his cheddar-chasing pals' ad-lib-heavy snowman rap.
Summer is more sonically varied than Jeezy's homogenous solo work, though crewmembers Blood Raw and Slick Pulla sound suspiciously like their big-name partner, double-tracked hype-man shenanigans and all. USDA's superficially catchy ditties aren't designed for posterity, but then the fizzy fun of mix-tapes has long been linked to the medium's built-in obsolescence.