Every since I heard Illa J's EP a few months back, I had high hopes for this young man. Not just for the simple fact that he's a native Detroiter, but even more so that he's Jay Dee's brother. There has been a musical void in my personal world since J-Dilla's early departure and I have been trying to fill that void ever since. No luck so far. I guess you can say that I have high hopes of Illa J filling his brother's Timberland boots, even though that would be impossible for anyone to do acutally. You can't be mad at your boy for daydreaming though, right? Regardless, Illa J is a solid emcee and with the right production behind him I figured he could establish his own legacy. Having the last name of Yancey automatically puts obvious pressure on the kid to deliver the goods on every outing, but I think Illa is up for the challenge.
I am pleased to say that the new "Yancey Boys" album is a solid release overall. With Illa J rapping over all Jay Dee beats, how could it not be good. This project should definitely satisfy fans of that traditional boom-bap sound that Jay Dee was known for back in the day. Most of the tracks have that vintage Ummah flavor that we have all grown to love over the years. Illa's verses flow nicely over these hynotic beats, so I have no complaints there.
Unfortunately, I do have one complaint though! My complaint has nothing to do with the music though, but it's the album cover that bothers me just a little. I have one question. Why is Illa's lips so chapped in the album cover photo? It looks like he was tongue kisses chalkboard made out of decaying bricks for like 3 hours straight, and then decided to take that photo! Come on my dude. Use have to use some Vaseline, Chapstick, Blistex or even fish grease would do the trick. On second thought, maybe he's trying to keep it raw? Yeah, I know...bad SoundNexx!!
Well, that's my 14 cents on the topic, so I'll leave it there.
Purchase the Yancey Boys album on November 4, 2008!
Check out Illa's myspace page below:
www.myspace.com/illaj
1 comment:
i wish the best to illaJ... hold it down.
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