J-Live has been one of hip-hop’s most under appreciated emcees for well over 10 years. He has one of those effortless flows, clever punchlines and most importantly, he knows how to make great songs and great albums. His sixth LP, Around the Sun is another great addition to J-Live’s incredibly consistent catalog.
Around the Sun is J-Live’s first LP in three years, and is a proper follow-up to S.P.T.A. which was one of my favorite releases in 2011. A lot of the production and content revolves around a spacey, outer space theme. Tracks like “World’s Apart,” “Equinox,” “City to City” and the title track all features references to this theme. Sonically, the lead-single, “Money Matters” also fits in with the spacey theme. It is one of the best beats I’ve heard from Oddisee, who also laced two other tracks on the album.
As with all J-Live album’s, Around the Sun features a lot of premier emceeing. Tracks like “Eight Minutes,” “Walk Like” and “Hang on Tight” (which features Homeboy Sandman) display some of the best rapping you’ll hear all year. What separates J-Live from your typical underground emcee is his ability to make songs that may not have much of a concept still entertaining and engaging. On standout, “Not Listening” he critiques rappers who have a lot of technical skill but aren’t saying anything unique. It has a great call-and-response hook, and will definitely be a hit when he performs it live.
It’s going to be a pretty exciting few months for hip hop this summer with releases from The Roots, Atmosphere, Sage Francis, possibly another Run the Jewels, among several others. Along with Asher Roth’s RetroHash (last week’s album of the week), Around the Sun is one of the first albums I’ve played this year that feels like summer music. And after the endless winter we’ve had, I am going to look forward to playing this record on the back porch, drinking beer and eating grilled foods.
7.5/10
Download Around The Sun via Amazon
Tracklisting:
1) Around The Sun (Solstice)
2) Eight Minutes
3) Walk Like
4) Top Of The Food Chain (feat. Rome Supreme & Ekundayo)
5) Not Listening
6) World’s Apart
7) Hang On Tight (feat. Homeboy Sandman)
8) No Doubt
9) The Fun Razor Remix (feat. Boog Brown)
10) Money Matters
11) City To City (feat. Tanya Morgan)
12) Equinox
