bklyndv
09-15-2005, 05:56 PM
As with most things in the Village Voice, I came up on a blurb about J-Live's new album -- and of his signing of copies in person -- the day the event was to go off. And I was just about finished getting dressed for work. Sonofabitch.
I've been meaning to pick it up since, but on my birthday (sweet), among other cool gifts, I got it instead.
First, either your a fan of lyricism or not. Or, more a fan of music and lyrics together, and less of either taking a front seat. Whatever. I can respect it all, but to my tastes I sometimes like being brought along a singular form by someone who can do it well. And J-Live is that someone -- he generally does lyricism extremely well, and this album is no exception.
It's also, unfortunately, a little too thin on topics. There should be a rule in hip-hop -- you're only allowed one chest-thumping, testosterone, "I invented rap, bitchez! An' I'm betta than all y'all..." styled track per album. Here I count one... two... three. I might be missing one or two. On a thirteen track album, that's too high a ratio for my pleasure.
Still, when he's good he's great -- 'Here,' the intro (though a chest thumper) sets it off with the kind of funky punch that I want to start every day with -- not the song per se, but that kind of feeling.
'Fire Water' is a J-Live styled rif that follows earlier tracks like 'Walkman Music,' combining head-bobbin beats with an oddly timed string section. An overly simple gag, perhaps, but one that does its magic for me. I'll be noddin' to this for a while, smiling every time the line "the needle's still shishin..." goes by.
'Audio Visual's' squeaking and smoky phases have me wondering how much J has been listening to Roots Manuva -- whatever amount, this track benefits by it, starting off good and ending great.
'Brooklyn Public Part 1' is a nice trip to take through an area I'm just now starting to consider "home," my only complaint being I wish J would offer some advice in answer to the problems he lays out so well -- maybe I'm jumping ahead, though. Looking forward to Part 2.
'Weather the Storm,' another sound off about gripes with Bush and life in general here in the States (ala 'Satisfied'), couldn't have been more eerily coincidental with things in New Orleans. "Different good ol' boys, but the same ol' cause..."
And for me, those are the stand-outs. It's not as if the other tracks are bad necessarily, so much as they're familiar to anyone who's listened to J's earlier stuff. For every 'After,' there's a 'Deal Widit' I like more.
I've been meaning to pick it up since, but on my birthday (sweet), among other cool gifts, I got it instead.
First, either your a fan of lyricism or not. Or, more a fan of music and lyrics together, and less of either taking a front seat. Whatever. I can respect it all, but to my tastes I sometimes like being brought along a singular form by someone who can do it well. And J-Live is that someone -- he generally does lyricism extremely well, and this album is no exception.
It's also, unfortunately, a little too thin on topics. There should be a rule in hip-hop -- you're only allowed one chest-thumping, testosterone, "I invented rap, bitchez! An' I'm betta than all y'all..." styled track per album. Here I count one... two... three. I might be missing one or two. On a thirteen track album, that's too high a ratio for my pleasure.
Still, when he's good he's great -- 'Here,' the intro (though a chest thumper) sets it off with the kind of funky punch that I want to start every day with -- not the song per se, but that kind of feeling.
'Fire Water' is a J-Live styled rif that follows earlier tracks like 'Walkman Music,' combining head-bobbin beats with an oddly timed string section. An overly simple gag, perhaps, but one that does its magic for me. I'll be noddin' to this for a while, smiling every time the line "the needle's still shishin..." goes by.
'Audio Visual's' squeaking and smoky phases have me wondering how much J has been listening to Roots Manuva -- whatever amount, this track benefits by it, starting off good and ending great.
'Brooklyn Public Part 1' is a nice trip to take through an area I'm just now starting to consider "home," my only complaint being I wish J would offer some advice in answer to the problems he lays out so well -- maybe I'm jumping ahead, though. Looking forward to Part 2.
'Weather the Storm,' another sound off about gripes with Bush and life in general here in the States (ala 'Satisfied'), couldn't have been more eerily coincidental with things in New Orleans. "Different good ol' boys, but the same ol' cause..."
And for me, those are the stand-outs. It's not as if the other tracks are bad necessarily, so much as they're familiar to anyone who's listened to J's earlier stuff. For every 'After,' there's a 'Deal Widit' I like more.