@3ternal intro is to long you could cut half of it imho. i feel the bass could be more in your face and wobbly and those cymbal hits dont mesh well with the rest also you could work on the panning of the instruments a bit. hook is catchy tho and the beat has a nice composition
My thoughts on the long intro are as follows:
1. You'd be surprised just how much an artist (in this case a rapper) talking, or rapping or what not covers up something like that, or diverts your attention from the fact that there's noting else going on.
2. The second thing is that I feel like the buildup between A section and B creates enough tension to make the wait for that release rewarding. I feel that way because the buildup is melodic in nature versus say a riser.
Now with that said there are things I can do to "spice it up" just a little along the way. I was initially thinking just a hat with a delay (to add a little depth the beat) hitting every bar or something just to take a little attention away from the length of the intro.
I agree with you on everything else. It was not mixed too much, just like a rough mix. Most channels were only run through filters at most, no EQ's, no panning or anything. I did slap a reverb on the melody which is two electric pianos, the high and low end are split and subtly mixed a little different from each other through their filters. Same with the drums, they're a somewhat generic pattern right now to get the idea out. They're not nearly as nuanced as I'd like, and mostly yet to be mixed.
Now, regarding the cymbals....bro, I've been trying to figure out how to get a proper sound out of a cymbal forever. I don't know if I'm using bad samples, or just have no idea how to properly mix them. I'm not talking mixing them as in mixing them in space, I'm talking about what to cut, what to boost, how much to filter,etc. I've never been able to figure it out or even find answers.
Anyways my apologies for writing War and Peace length response over here but thanks for feedback, I appreciate it. Me posting my beat in here for critique is like secret code for "help me out with this beat before I totally ruin it".