While not much can be said about the creativity in commercial
hip hop, the independent scene doesn’t suffer from the same affliction.
There are a number of artists who have put out totally unique albums over
the past few years. J-Zone is
one of those artists. He is an artist who has taken the term “producer
on the mic” to a whole new level, in fact, it is hard to decide whether he
is better on the mic or behind the boards.
To describe his production style takes some thought, people might be quick to
call him a crate digger because of the amount of samples that he uses.
That is until you realize that most of his samples are from movies
(obscure one’s at that), cinematic digger maybe? Still, his beats serve
as a perfect backdrop to his brilliant story-telling lyrics and creatice
subject matter.
Keeping yourself from laughing is not likely to happen when listening to this
album, the characters of J-Zone,
Huggy Bear and Al-Shid are just too amusing. Some of the subject matter
you will find here is J-Zone‘s
hatred for condoms (Trojan Wars),
statutory rape (Jailbait Jennifer), people
downloading his albums (Live From Pimp
Palace East), cock-blockers (Block
Itch), self-righteous women (Bum-Bitch
Ballad), and days with no police (No
Consequences). What really makes these songs work other than the
great story-telling ability of all 3 emcees, is the incredible use of vocal
samples that are interspersed throughout each song at just the right time.
J-Zone is not the best known artist
out there to say the least, it isn’t hard to get into him though. Like
fresh beats? Check for No
Consequences. What about lyrics? Check this line from Trojan Wars, bonin’ for calorie burnin’ is straight lame/ain’t no point in being a
casanova cuz sex ain’t shit with a helmet on ya soldier. Or from Jailbait Jennifer, yo she could pass for 24 so I’m on it with a stroke but I’m tortured by
visions of me droppin’ the soap. Lines like those two are exactly
what you will find throughout the entire album, both in the humour and his
attitude towards life.
Zone produces the entire album and
has said since that this will be his last album as an emcee because he has said
all he wants to on his three albums. I can see that it is only a matter
of time before he starts getting a tapped for production, especially from
anyone craving a unique sound. For now Zone says he will produce solo albums for his fellow Old Maid Billionaires, something that I
definately look foward to. Let’s hope then he will get recognized for the
talent that he is.
