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Saturday, August 30, 2008

J The S/ When In Rome


I was on 2dopeboyz.com a while ago, and I found this mixtape, thought it looked interesting... so I downloaded it. Then I heard it, and now I'm writing about it. Why? Because J The S aka Jake The Snake is repping Boston like crazy, and has rhymes for fucking days, and I think it's my obligation to get this dude even a little bit of hype. These underground cats are all on the come-up, and not enough can be said about the state of underground hip-hop today... there are too many good rappers to support, while I can only think of a few mainstream artists I would ever even think about supporting. That being said, the Bean has been producing crazy rhymers for the last few years... and if J the S's albums are as good as his mixtapes, New York might have some competition.

The Good:

1. Right Of Passage- This was the first thing I heard, and obviously it made quite the impression on me, and this song is still at the top of my playlist. The wordplay is crazy. But J changes subjects every other line, and he over exaggerates just a little bit... for those who actually listen you'll know what I'm talking about.

2. Pump- The hook is terrible... but the rest of the song is fire. The featured artists are good too.

5. Do You- This would have been the single of the mixtape. The hook is terrible, but the instrumental is awesome... the Joell Ortiz and Lee Wilson features are amazing. And J the S bests both of them... that's saying something.

6. Push My Buttons- Great production job, the rhyming is alright, there's a few weak features, and a Stack Bundles feature (R.I.P.)

9. Loosen Up- Perfect.

10. Whispers In The Dark- Soulful beat laced with some real lyricism... the hook is a bit too obvious, but the rest of this track is real impressive.

12. Get Low Remix- No Memphis Bleek feature, but a great song. Badnewz (nice name) has a terrible verse but it still makes me interested about the original...

13. Forever Tomorrow- A crazy-ass instrumental, real soulful and meaningful lyrics... the combo just takes you to a different place. Love this track.

14. A Strange Feeling- I have a strange feeling this song is gonna be straight fire. What do you know? I was right... I like the "You Know My Steez" reference.

16. Kilograms (I Know)- He got Ras Kass to feature on this track... even though J The S comes with some strong lines, but Ras Kass completely outshines him. I'm getting tired of the Iraq/Osama references already.

And we're done... not what I was expecting from a mixtape, but I would listen to at least half of the songs over again. J The S aka SNZA (Don't bite the Genius too bad) comes with deep, introspective commentary. I feel like a douchebag saying it, but he ultimately is a less-talented version of Immortal Technique. But at the same time... his lyrical game is crazy and pretty unique, very few dudes are spitting like he is so check his shit out fam...

0-20: Terrible listening experience
21-40: Maybe one good song
41-60: A few good songs
61-80: Half are good songs, half are weak
81-100: Great listening experience, almost all are great songs

I give this mixtape a 82... check it out cuz there's some great songs on here, but this admittedly is not for everyone.

Download Here

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