Consequence is pretty damn old to
just now be releasing his solo debut. Getting his start with a cameo on A Tribe Called Questâs Beats, Rhymes and Life LP in 1996, the
cousin of Q-Tip had released a
couple of solid mixtapes before getting down with die-hard fan/uber-producer Kanye West and his GOOD Music record label. Building his buzz with cameos on each of Kanyeâs highly successful solo albums, Con finally gets his shot at a proper
solo debutâover a decade after his initial introductionâwith Donât Quit Your Day Job!
From the first bars uttered on the albumâs âJob Songâ opener, itâs obvious
where Kanye has swagger jacked his
style from. While naive newcomers may see it as the other way around due to Kanyeâs saturation of rap in the past
few years, Consequenceâs laid-back
delivery, drawn-out pronunciation and âregular guyâ persona were his before
yâall were calling Kanye âKayne.â A
major difference, though, is that while Kanye
uses that guise to balance out cocky quips, it serves as Consequenceâs default character. Donât Quit Your Day Job! is chockfull of everyday situationsâstruggling
to make ends meet (âJob Songâ), skirt-chasing (âUptownâ), aspiring to be able
to give back to the hood (âDonât Forget Emâ) and familial feuds (âUncle Raheimâ).
While the sparse braggadocios efforts (the jiggy single âCallin Meâ) are all
winners, casual day-to-day subject matter is Consequenceâs specialty, as he wisely opts to give listeners
relatable rhymes instead of unrealistic flossing. The Queens nativeâs
proverbial narratives are sure to relate to many, and his natural charisma
(along with soulful, sample-driven instrumentals from the likes of Kanye, Karreim Riggins and other talented no-name beatsmiths) can keep
others interested.
While that familiarity is what keeps the album grounded, itâs also what
holds him back. While each track shines with its regularity, there arenât
enough standouts to push the album over the edge. Day Job lacks the emotional depth of a Murs and the individuality/quirkiness of a Phonte Coleman (of Little
Brother) or Rhymefest, and even
though each track is rational, they donât seem as personal as they could be.
This is disappointing from a veteran of Consequenceâs
experience. Also disappointing is the albumâs abundance of previously-released
material: the âGrammy Familyâ posse cut with his GOOD cohorts was on DJ
Khaledâs album last year, the Kanye-assisted
âThe Good, The Bad, The Uglyâ made waves on mixtapes in 2002!! âNight Nightâ
appeared on a boxing video gameâs soundtrack, and even âUptownâ was previously
heard on DJ Clueâs The Professional 3 album last year.
While each of them are still quality songs (aside from the recycle bin filler âNight
Nightâ), the inclusion of so many older tracks is puzzling with the years it
took for Consequenceâs solo debut to
actually hit shelves.
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On a minor note, while a loosely-constructed storylineâConsequence plays an aspiring rapper who gets a job as a retail
store security guard to pay the billsâmildly helps the albumâs cohesion, the
voice actors in the skits simply donât get the job done (especially the voice
behind Conâs mother, who is unbearably
annoying). Despite its drawbacks, Donât
Quit Your Day Job! is still a solid debut from Consequence and another winner in the GOOD Music catalog. Letâs just hope that his sophomore set fills in
the blanks.