| Power in Numbers | | Posted Monday, September 11, 2006 2:11:48 PM by BlogJeeves Team | | Two years after Jurassic 5's debut album, Quality Control, proved that B-boy-oriented retro-rap doesn't have to be corny, the six-member crew (four MCs and two DJs) seems to be gearing up for the revolution. While fans of Quality Control's bright sound will still find much to enjoy here, J5's sophomore offering does a good job at extending their sound. Opening with "Freedom," a quiet yet focused call to action, Power in Numbers presents a slightly darker vision of hip-hop nirvana than the group offered first time around. In keeping with the album's title, J5 has also expanded its crew--Percy P. (of the early-90s underground group, Double XX Posse) and Big Daddy Kane help wreck the G Rap-esque "A Day at the Races," and the always game alterna-diva, Nelly Furtado, lends a surprisingly effective pop edge to the bouncy "Thin Line." On the production end of things, Juju of the Beatnuts adds his special blend of Colombian madness to the jazzy "If You Only Knew" and the considerably bleaker "One of Them." --Rebecca Levine... | |
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| | | 2001 | | Posted Saturday, September 09, 2006 2:12:50 AM by BlogJeeves Team | | Despite the number of guests on hand, Dr. Dre's decade-/century-/millennium-ending sequel to The Chronic is, like its predecessor, less a stack of posse cuts and more an elegantly seamless work from West Coast hip-hop's premier auteur. Deliberately cinematic in everything from its mix of moods to dramatic musical surges, 2001 is Dre's assessment of the gangsta life in medium shots. No longer fully immersed in violence and random sex, yet aware of their attraction, he often lets his guests blow steam about whatever's on their minds. When he takes stock of gangbanging circa late '99, though, he drops his neutral tone; he even provides another half-joking but stern warning to protégé Eminem on "What's the Difference." Between his discovery of Slim Shady, visits from old pal Snoop Dogg, and, most of all, the masterful sound and flow of this CD, Dre should shut down all talk of his supposed irrelevance. --Rickey Wright... | |
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| | | Reflection Eternal/Train of Thought | | Posted Friday, September 01, 2006 4:11:51 PM by BlogJeeves Team | | Talib Kweli is probably the only MC who could do justice to "For Women," Nina Simone's righteous, ragged battle cry, and he does so with his cover on Reflection Eternal. That cut illustrates this album's timeless quality, its personal poeticism, and its strength. Kweli's lyrical skills have only improved over time, approaching the stuff of legend. And producer Hi-Tek's supple grooves balance the wordcraft perfectly. --Lizz Mendez Berry ... | |
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| | | Business Up Front/Party In The Back | | Posted Wednesday, August 30, 2006 4:11:57 AM by BlogJeeves Team | | Arriving out of Atlanta like high school sophomores who stole mom's car to hit spring break in Daytona Beach, the 3 brothers and 2 others of Family Force 5 deliver their debut, Business Up Front/Party In The Back. Without a doubt the focus here is on the "party", as most of the record is devoted to getting down, chasing girls ("Drama Queen" sounds like it was written by a 14 year old who just got dumped), and driving around with the radio blasting. Not that there's anything wrong with these things, but the band comes off more like Limp Bizkit's smart-ass little brother than a bunch of kids on a tear. No one would accuse FF5 of over-thinking their music and lyrics--when your album title is a.k.a. a mullet, intellectualism probably isn't your highest priority. Overall, the album seems genetically engineered to appeal to as wide an audience as possible, piled high with 80's synths, rap/rock riffs and shout-along refrains, and name-checking everything from break dancing to Speak & Spells. In the end, trying this hard causes the FF5 to wear out their welcome. It's only when the band drops the catchy chorus on "Kountry Gentleman" or "Love Addict", you may just find yourself speeding down the highway, bobbing your head a little despite your better judgement. --Ben Heege... | |
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| | | Idlewild | | Posted Tuesday, August 22, 2006 4:11:34 PM by BlogJeeves Team | | Despite its title title, this is not a soundtrack for the Idlewild movie--almost no songs appear in the film. Instead, the tunes seem inspired by Idlewild's narrative themes. Outkast extends the eccentric streak that began on Stankonia and continued through The Love Below/Speakerboxxx. Fans of that last album may enjoy Idlewild's continued eclecticism, especially from Andre 3000, who seems to be moving further away from "rap" every moment toward some bizarre love child of Prince and Melvin Van Peebles. A song like "Mighty O," which actually features both Outkast members rhyming, is a refreshing throwback to the duo's earlier days, but Idlewild is mostly divided between songs from Andre and Big Boi, with few points of intersection. By far the strangest Outkast album they've ever released--and this is saying a lot--Idlewild is a heady, dizzying trip. Awkwardly disjointed at times, it undeniably certifies the group as one of the most adventurous that hip-hop has ever seen. It's not easy to love but it's hard not to respect. --Oliver Wang... | |
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| | | Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks | | Posted Thursday, August 17, 2006 4:12:25 PM by BlogJeeves Team | | The beauty of Schoolhouse Rock in its original Saturday morning run (1973-85) was that kids watching couldn't tell whether the catchy three-minute cartoon jingles were meant to be commercials, shows, or something else entirely. That enabled overexposed TV youth to learn without realizing it between episodes of Scooby Doo and Fat Albert. Then the Brady Bunch generation became the alternative nation, and the innocence with which they took in these grammar, history, and math lessons was lost. Now comes the obligatory tribute album, Schoolhouse Rock Rocks--pleasant enough, but full of postmodern yuks and missed-the-point nostalgia that aim to celebrate but instead drain the joy from childhood memories. Though it's somewhat interesting to hear Pavement turn "Mo More Kings" into lo-fi krautrock or Moby make "Verb: That's What's Happening" into industrial techno-pop, the performers who most successfully preserve Schoolhouse Rock's edutainment viability are those who are most cartoonish to begin with: Ween ("The Shot Heard 'round the World"), Biz Markie ("The Energy Blues"), and Daniel Johnston ("Unpack Your Adjectives"). The problem remains, nonetheless: Any revamping of these songs implies Schoolhouse Rock somehow needed to be made hipper. That none of these songs is better than its original proves how very unhip '70s kids have grown up to be. --Roni Sarig ... | |
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| | | Run-D.M.C. - Greatest Hits | | Posted Tuesday, August 15, 2006 2:12:00 AM by BlogJeeves Team | | Is Run-DMC the most important group of the past 25 years? Well, if you believe that the rise of hip-hop is the most significant musical development in a quarter century, what other conclusion can you draw? Though they may not have been responsible for the birth of rap, the Hollis, Queens, trio represents the genre's coming of age. They were the ones who brought what was largely a regional street phenomenon to the masses. The rhymes, the beats, the style, the attitude--Run-DMC introduced it all to the world. Focusing mostly on the group's first three albums--each of them a cornerstone of rap music--this 18-track collection is a reminder of a time when rap enjoyed a kind of childlike innocence: their boasts are forceful but not angry; the beats are simple but exciting; the overall effect (fueled by heavy-metal riffs) is edgy and aggressive, but not violent or destructive. But most of all, it's fun. In the 1990s, rap artists would take Run-DMC's ideas to wide extremes, but the roots of this next generation--gangsta rap's street realism, political rap's social agendas, rock-rap's antagonism--are found right here. Run-DMC--like almost all pioneers from Elvis to Louis Armstrong--suffered a period of irrelevancy when they were looked upon as quaint or outdated, but, their time will come. Rest assured, this is not '80s retro kitsch. --Marc Greilsamer... | |
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| | | The Slim Shady LP | | Posted Saturday, August 12, 2006 2:12:22 PM by BlogJeeves Team | | On The Slim Shady LP, Eminem wants it all. He's conflicted, you see; the world has treated him badly, and he wants to respond in kind. But he isn't a straight-up gangsta--this is, after all, the first release on Dr. Dre's Aftermath Records, his post-Death Row-era venture--and Eminem (born Marshall Mathers) doesn't really want anyone to follow in his footsteps, which leads to some interesting contradictions on this album. In the first single, "My Name Is," he's self-deprecating, rapping about his poor upbringing and his hairy palms. But on the very next song, "Guilty Conscience," he plays the devil to Dr. Dre's angel--that is, until Eminem brings up an incident from Dre's devilish past, rapping, "You gonna take advice from someone who slapped Dee Barnes?" Later, on "'97 Bonnie & Clyde," he turns Will Smith's "Just the Two of Us" on its ear, making it a tale of murder; but on "My Fault," he actually feels bad--though whether it's for the girl he overdosed or for himself is tough to figure out. With his nasal Midwestern tone, Mathers has a clean, clear flow, and the production--by Dr. Dre, Marky, and Jeff Bass--is crisp but consistently fun. With his outlook, it's tough to take Eminem too seriously, but he's made an album you don't have to take seriously to enjoy. --Randy Silver... | |
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| | | As Cruel as School Children | | Posted Thursday, August 10, 2006 2:11:53 AM by BlogJeeves Team | | This upstate NY 4-piece hip-hop band fuse crisp guitar rhythms, deep melodic bass lines, head cracking beats, and conscious lyrics to create a sound truly their own. Their debut full-length, "The Papercut Chronicles", has sold over 32,000 copies, converting anyone within ear shot into fans. This, their follow-up, is surely going to launch the band to the next level.... | |
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| | | The Blueprint | | Posted Monday, August 07, 2006 12:12:02 PM by BlogJeeves Team | | The Blueprint may be Jay Z's most captivating record since Reasonable Doubt, but its predictably detached mood reflects the master hustler's superior ability to trick out lackluster subject matter with lyrical complexity and brief flashes of manufactured introspection. The Blueprint, a solid mix of preprogrammed radio hits ("Izzo," "Girls, Girls, Girls") and better-than-average mid-tempo compositions ("Never Change," "Song Cry"), confirms the Brooklyn rapper's legendary status. Blistering flames of the Queensbridge/Jay Z feud fan high with "Takeover," a direct attack on Nas, set over the Doors' rock & roll burner, "5 to 1." "Renegade" provides the album's only full-on guest appearance. Jay and Eminem take this opportunity to address haters (within the industry and in the general population) who don't understand the mind of an artist. Jigga spells it out on the title track: "Reasonable Doubt--classic, shoulda went triple." The Blueprint might not be quite on par with Reasonable Doubt but it is reasonably good. --Rebecca Levine... | |
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