Wednesday, January 26, 2005

The Best Part - J-Live

J-Live

J-Live - Wax Paper

J-Live - Them That's Not

So back to the hip hop today and an underground classic, the awesome The Best Part by J-Live.

Famous in hip hop circles for the fact that it took 5 years for the album to be released it is also legendary for being a great showcase of J-Live's immense talent as an mc. Recorded in 1996 after the release of two excellent singles, the album then sat on the shelf for five years as bootlegs and label relocations kept it from release. Finally in 2001 the album saw the light of day and it was worth the wait.

The two tracks up here today are both great examples of how fluid J-Live's style is and the difference in the subject matter to most mc's out there.

The first track Wax Paper is an absolute killer of a tune as J-Live takes the break from Gz and Hustlaz (Haboglabotribin) and lays down what is more akin to spoken word than rap - no chorus or hooks just a quality Slick Rick style tale.

The second track Them That's Not is another track that shows the lyrical capability of J-Live. The Eddie Russ trumpet loop slows down and speeds up but J-live's vocals match the warped rhythm perfectly. This and Wax Paper are both great examples of what a gifted MC can make out of what are very basic songs production wise.

Both tracks are available on the album HERE. Since the release J-Live has produced another album and an EP but, while decent, neither has scaled the heights of this debut album.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your posts are great, but this system (downloading) is very hard to negotiate. Keep up the good work.

Anonymous said...

Big fan of Pharcyde (who's not), looking for Nothern Soul and like J-Live, but i can't download or here any your files...
help me
all the best
Olivier

. said...

Thanks for the feedback! I'm trying to sort out some proper hosting now so hopefully this should all be a lot easier soon.

djmaru said...

wax paper is probably my favorite j-live track. i'm glad you brought him up so i can go dig it out.