Underrated / Underhated #5 (Westside 2005 Edition)
Underhated :The Game – The Documentary
There’s a theory which suggests even the most shitty dullard of a rapper is tolerable over good production. It’s a theory we subscribe to every time we somehow manage to forget that Lil’ Dap sounds like Kermit The Frog’s nephew Robyn each time we listen to Supa Star (don’t get it twisted, though, we’ll always have love for Melachi The Nutcracker). Yet somehow even a big budget producer dream team like Dre, Timbaland, ‘Yeezy, Just Blaze, Hi-Tek and Buckwild can’t turn Game’s debut into a banger.
Indeed, the post-The Black Album superstar producer team turns out to be the main problem – For all the brouhaha about Game resurrecting the West coast it’s an album which sounds curiously NY-centric with one of the only West Coast sounding beats being by, of all people, Hi-Tek. While there are some fine moments here the production completely overshadows the plastic faux pasing revisionist namedropping ramble-rappin’ of Game and on the lesser hot tracks (including some utterly subpar efforts by Dre, Just Blaze and a trademark Eminem clunker) Game’s persona is just so generic, inauthentic and desperate to insert himself into the rap pantheon that he quickly grates over average production. Add in the token phoned-in guest spots by Eminem, Snoop, Busta and Mary J. Blige and dated-a-week-after-it’s-release bulletproof G-Unit soldier solidarity and you have an all-over-the-shop album bereft of any sort of heart or character. How We Do surely counts as one of the blandest G-Unit singles to date. No mean feat.
Sure, Hate It Or Love It was one of the best singles of ’05 (albeit, one where 50 steals the show) and only a true curmudgeon could deny Westside Story, Put It On The Game or that sublime lyric in Dreams about Eazy E’s jheri curl drippin’ on Ronald Reagan’s shoes but beyond them there’s little here to sink your teeth into and, thus, it ends up a hollow debut album with very little replay value. Sometimes bigger really isn’t better.
Underrated : The Jacka – The Jack Artist
While Compton native Game made the most noise and the post-Mac Dre hyphy movement generated the most discussion, elsewhere in the Bay Area in 2005 Mob Figaz member The Jacka was quietly getting on with business creating some real west coast gangsta rap with an NY influence on his 2nd solo release The Jack Artist. Almost entirely produced by in-house producer Rob Lo and, other than brief verses by Cormega, Yukmouth and Keak Da Sneak, with guest features kept to purely Mob Figaz members, affiliates and weed-carriers this is the complete antithesis of Game’s bloated big budget feature filled debut album.
The Jacka ft. Husalah – Blind World
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The Jacka ft. Fed X – Standing By Starz
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A really good gangsta rap album should be a little world full of contradictory impulses you can lose yourself in and The Jack Artist succeeds in this entirely due to Rob Lo crafting a low-budget but lush bed of soul samples underpinned by trademark Bay Area trunk-friendly basslines with Jacka trying to make sense of his environment as a wistful ex-crack dealing devout muslim perennially caught in a hustle between the two worlds. Hardly an original concept, you might sneer, but Jacka’s nation of Islam affiliation gives him extra depth to carry the introspective thug in the dope game role off as successfully as the heavyweights of the genre (think : UGK, Cormega, Z-Ro, Beanie Sigel, Freeway) and the album feels like a journey starting with the melancholy Never Blink, taking in the likes of Iller Clip, Standing By Starz, Feel This Clip and Blind World before ending with the uplifting triumvirate of Won’t Break Me, Kuran and the original solo version of Barney (More Crime).
The Jacka – Barney (More Crime)/Feel This Clip
Of course, it’s a modern rap album so it’s not perfect – at 19 tracks it’s overlong with inevitable filler and you’ll occassionally find yourself wishing Fed X or the hugely charismatic Husalah were in the studio that day instead during verses by J. Stylin’ or Lil’ Ric but these are minor complaints on such a strong set and it’s the juxaposition of the almost Heatmakerz-ish soul sampling atop the customary deep bass of older Mob Figaz releases which give The Jack Artist a unique feel. Proof that the equation of good rapper plus good producer finely crafting their platter often equals much better music.
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19 Responses to "Underrated / Underhated #5 (Westside 2005 Edition)"
This album is a minor classic, and ‘Jack Of All Trades’ is dope too. Plus, ‘Mob Trial 2′ featuring Jacka is one of the best Bay LPs from the last couple of years. ‘Tear Gas’ should be great when it finally drops.
Right – back to listening to album of the year – aka ‘The Recession’
Co-sign that shit! Jacka ALWAYS delivers, Jack Artist and Jack Of All Trades should be present in any half decent rap collection, but also check shit like Devilz Rejects – 36 Zips and anything by Husalah. Mob Trial 2 was the best, followed jointly by 1 and 3… Can’t wait for Tear Gas and a 320kpbs version of The Recession!!
Disagree with the J Stalin comment though, he’s definitely a rapper that grows on you…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZQmO20BSaw
Off his dope album On Behalf Of The Streets, produced entirely by Tha Mekanix
The first Mob Trial album isn’t very good yet it’s hard to deny any album with Sleepin’ With Da Fishes by Husalah on it.
Darlo – were you a fan of Trap Or Die, Thug Motivation 101 or the Boyz ‘N’ Da Hood album?
ABN is probably my most listened to cd of 2008 so far. I’m gettin’ stuck on S.O.S in particular at the moment.
I was a HUGE fan of Trap Or Die and Thug Motivation – Boyz N Tha Hood only had a few moments, and The Inspiration was the development of the sound that they’ve nailed on the new one. The only rap guests are ‘Ye and Boosie – can’t go wrong with that. Yeah, I know Nas is on there too, but thankfully it’s the last track and he’s on the last verse so you just stop the album at 3 mins 24secs on track 18 and flip back to the start. Smart move by Jeezy there.
ABN was my favourite and definitely most played too until this came out ‘Whoa’ is my shit!
Brian – you need to come to this night I’m doing – the music is gonna be off the rocker http://www.myspace.com/trilllondon. Shit is gonna be uncompromising.
No Slick Pulla ?????????????????
I’m a little wary of The Recession because The Inspiration was zzzzzz, i hear Shawty Redd has only done 1 track and the Nas joint is predictably embarrassing but i did really like The Prime Minister mixtape, especially Put On and Serious.
Night looks excellent. I’ll be sure to break my LIL’ FLIP DOESN’T HAVE H.I.V shirt out if i attend.
‘Night looks excellent. I’ll be sure to break my LIL’ FLIP DOESN’T HAVE H.I.V shirt out if i attend.’
^lol
The Shawty Redd track is insane – but it’s all about Midnight Black who’s done 3 killers and Drumma Boi. Even though there are about 8 or 9 producers it all has an unbelievably consistent sound. The Don Cannon joint is an incredible flip of a classic soul track and J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League sample a real rare soul classic for theirs. It’s all good mane – and you know what I’m glad he hasn’t got his crew all over it – even though I like Slick etc.
Anyway Brian holler at me on email – got some isht to send you – you know my mail – its on http://www.southernhospitality.co.uk
what is this? a dating website?
^ Ha ha – yeah, you interested?
That Jacka album is classic….one of my favorites of all time. There’s really only one track that I skip. And J Stalin’s verse was nice…you might wanna listen again.
Hope Tear Gas is gonna be on the same level.
Don’t wanna sound like a newjack here but what’s the song used for Circulate? Good Money by Mickey Factz, which 9th Wonder did (his best beat since Instigator by M.O.P), also uses the same sample.
I’ll mail you now, Darlo.
Um, there’s about 46 different email addresses on the S.H site. Which one?
The one that starts with rob
The track is Billy Paul ‘Let The Dollar Circulate’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2HE9OB0Xjo&feature=related
Damn. I need to dig for the Billy Paul LP with that on.
u lot are insane. listen to urselves. an fat lace ur funny as fuck but the game is hard, the album is hard an it dont need to be hated in any way. stop lovin obscure dickheads cus they are obscure, sumtimes artists dat sell lots of records can be good too.
HAHAHAH “phoned in guest spots” … “eminem clunker” – on point. although i did kinda like the album haha
I think the Game is overhated to be honest, he makes good music and flows better than most, just the name-dropping kills it.
And for the record, The Jacka ain’t obscure at all as long as you don’t only listen to rap from New York. And J Stalin is nicer than he gets credit for, check his album.
And even then Cormega has done tracks with Jacka so there really is no excuse for not knowing him.
I can’t front on Old English by Game, though.
mang! u can’t even compare game and jacka! Jacka is too much gangsta for da game. The game sells hurricane shoes and movies … Jacka be selling that real shit.
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