That Mexican OT – Texas Technician (Album Review)

Rising to recent stardom in the past year, That Mexican OT (Born and raised in Bay City, Texas) offers his third official album release with Texas Technician. Collaborating with several producers for each song, That Mexican OT recruited an impressive lineup with the likes of: Bankroll Got It (Megan Thee Stallion, Latto, Coi Leray), Oliver Bassil (Don Oliver, Tory Lanez, Kevin Gates), Ben10k (JT, Dreamville, G-Eazy, Rick Nasty), DJ Chase (PnB Rock, Megan Thee Stallion, Youngboy NBA), and Cory Mo (Big K.R.I.T., Killer Mike, UGK). With That Mexican OT not having a co-production credit throughout, he does have a co-write credit for each song along with the accompanying feature, sometimes the producer, and occasionally additional writers.

Beginning the pre-album rollout with his first single and intro song to his album, 02.02.99, That Mexican OT offers a lowery Trap instrumental with a slow and deliberate flow outlining lyrics about how he can protect himself with threats of violence and commentary about his life/status in a track titled after his birthday. Peaking at #74 on the Hot 100 Chart, 02.02.99 is a mediocre track both as a single and the intro for the album; as an intro, it does outline some of the frequent themes that would come of the album yet as a single/track, the only shining component is That Mexican OT’s fun and energetic delivery that sets the tone for one of the frequent styles he’ll utilize throughout the project.

Following 02.02.99, the album’s second and final single, Point Em Out also serves as the second song to the album including a feature from DaBaby. Produced partially by Bankroll Got It, Point Em Out is a heavy Piano Trap instrumental of a track that finds the pair rapping about threatening a person with violence for not learning his lesson from past times including lyrics of braggadocio. With DaBaby offering a slightly too fast for his own good verse that verges on messy sounding, That Mexican OT follows a similar style (As he is consistently compared to the style of DaBaby) that outshines DaBaby and makes for yet another mediocre release leading to the album release.

On March 1, 2024, That Mexican OT released Texas Technician, a 16 song (40min) album that hosted an array of features from A-listers to underground and unknown. With features from Texas-Rap royalty such as Z-Ro and Slim Thug to features from underground local artists such as DRODi, Propain, Trapboy Freddy, OTB Fastlane, Hannah Everhart, Homer, Mine, and Hogg Booma, it is clear That Mexican OT cares to pay homage to the classics while lending a platform to the new. Additionally, That Mexican OT includes a lot of Mexican producers/writers/artists in the project as well, showing love to his culture and to those within the industry looking for an opportunity to shine. This consideration for both the old and new as well for his culture is one of the shinning achievements of the project as it perfectly capitulates a humble nature to the artist.

As aforementioned, That Mexican OT hosts a wide array of producers which works both to the detriment and advantage to the album. With the instrumentals all offering different and unique sounds, there is an inherent freshness to some of the tracks, especially when they lean into the Spanish and/or Texas based soundscape that pairs well with the intentions of the project. On the downside, having so many producers track-to-track sometimes leads to a “too many cooks in the kitchen” scenario where some of the production clashes, doesn’t land, or falls under the generic. With That Mexican OT, again, giving a platform to underground producers who are still yet established (i.e. DJ Skull, Rocco Roy, G&B, KayDee Pro, etc.), the intention is there but the end results vary and can make for a majority of the album having some lackluster instrumentals.

Thematically, the album is a bit all over the place and doesn’t follow a specific idea/theme throughout outside of threats, violence, women, drugs, and personal experiences. With most tracks offering mostly subpar verses, nothing overtly witty nor clever or unique, the lyricism takes a major backseat in terms of what the focal point of the album is intended to be. In the track Mucho Gracias, though, That Mexican OT offers the most endearing and genuine lyricism in the project as he outlines what he is thankful for including family, friends, opportunity, himself, and luck. Outside of this track, most of the lyricism is fairly average with some fun uses of Spanglish interjected throughout such as in the Club/Trap song Hola.

While That Mexican OT raps mostly throughout the album in a style that is a combination of YG, DaBaby, and Big K.R.I.T., he also offers some fun and different styles as well. Sometimes singing, sometimes a singsong rap, sometimes even utilizing autotune, That Mexican OT experiments with different cadences and delivery that, despite not always landing, offers a fresh change of pace to the sometimes stagnant Trap and Rap style and additionally showcases some impressive range. Parallel to this versatility, That Mexican OT also experiments with different sounds for some of the tracks as well while he experiments with a Memphis Rap-esuqe style (Point Em Out), Club Bangers (Hola), Pop Rap (Comin Down), Jazz Rap (Glocks & Hammers), and Gangsta Rap (Twisting Fingers). While not every genre/style explored is a success, the range and openness to experiment with these sounds are applauded and can allude to possible directions That Mexican OT could explore in future releases.

In an album that flips back and forth between generic and bland to fun and fresh, the best tracks would have to be Twisting Fingers featuring Moneybagg Yo and Kick Doe Freestyle featuring Homer and Mone. In Twisting Fingers produced most notably by Bankroll Got It and Ben10k, the track offers a funky, dynamic Trap instrumental with violin that finds the duo rapping about gang affiliations, threats, and violence this time with more personality, wit, and wordplay interjected throughout. Bouncy, easy, and catchy, both rappers’ flows perfectly complement each other for a track that seamlessly flows from start to finish. For Kick Doe Freestyle, the closing track of the album produced by Cory Mo, offers a layered, Cloud Rap instrumental with lyricism from all three rappers about their lives, style, and personality. With powerfully performed features from Homer and Mone, they not only outshine That Mexican OT in his track but both shine as the most notable features of the album despite being essentially unknown artists. With a steady flow, unique styles from each artist, and a constantly dynamic beat, this song offers a solid outro to an otherwise lukewarm project.

Rating/Mediocre – Texas Technician is a fairly average album for all purposes; with a mostly mixed bag of instrumentals, mostly uninspired lyricism, and some clashing in the hodgepodge of producers/features included. That Mexican OT, though, shows some genuine promise with glistens of hope that can be found in his versatility of styles, delivery, and respect given to the community and genre. While the album technically falls under average, what it represents is far more important. Even though That Mexican OT is far from an established name in the genre yet, he has already created opportunities for artists/producers who are local to the Texas area and/or part of the Mexican community by including them in his album. While the quality of these artists/producers vary and lead to some of the fundamental issues of the album, the opportunity for them to learn and improve their craft is a crucial part of the music industry and something that should be celebrated and recognized in this release.

[We rank singles, EPs, and albums on a scale of Poor, Mediocre, Good, Excellent, and Outstanding]