producers: bigg jus, dregas

A good, a mediocre and a bad album is like a sofa, a chair and standing up. The chair might be cool, as you don't have to stand up, but it's no sofa to lounge on either. Bigg Jus, as part of the seminal collective Company Flow, decided to get up off that sofa and go look for his own. However, there were a couple of things, that made us afraid, that he'll settle with a chair: his next album would be the sophomore release, that's destined to be jinxed, despite it being his solo debut; it took too damn long to finally release something new and third, El-P, the beat wunderkind of CoFlow will no longer provide the musical backing. Hence the odds were not very beneficial and it would show Jus' true skill if he can actually come with something dope. Jus doesn't disappoint.

Bigg Jus is hitting you over the head right off the bat. His "Tongue Sandwich" is ill, in all kinds of ways. The production is forever changing, moving through more patterns and combination of elements, than a kaleidoscope. It's obviously meant as a kind of storm gate, that if you dare to step through, then calm waters welcome you in the form of "Heavenly Rivers". While here the total of the beat vibe is more relaxed, the complexity of the recipe is still difficult, and Jus is stepping beyond the representing on the mic, to kill all those that should not step to but away from the mic. "Dedication To Pray" is again paying tribute to the wall painting, as Jus is as much Lune TNS, and he's treating himself to one of the most straight forward beats, that features butter sweet strings.

The "Gaffling Whips (Remix)", the leading track on the 12", suffers from a hard to like main sound. The "Gaffling Whips (Original)" is coming on later, and the beat, while more conform, is also more to our liking. The remix however is followed by "Plantation Rhymes", a track that sneaks on us on a rather smooth tip, that then is continuously changing, making it a collage of ill matching colors that happen to blend perfectly, with some of the parts having us desperately demand an extended version. This is strangeness pulled off with an incredible ease. The complex and often made difficult to follow rhyming is keeping the wack as their target, as "it's plantation rhymes / cause most of you emcees rhyme like slaves". The writer's struggles is again being talked about on "Dedication 2 Peo", before Jus is stepping away and letting Angel Donyel take over the space. And all those that are fiending for some sickness to mess up their head, are treated to an aspirin, as "The Story Entangles" is slow, very quiet and poetic, in a way that uses the means to empty the soul and not to impress the listener.

But after another quick break, we are chased through "I Triceritops", that doesn't hesitate to remember the lost art of bridges or changes, making this two tracks connecting under one banner, that is having the b-boys embroidered on its flag, with them being treated to a part two, while part three is a suffering stance being made. What then gets us to the last track featuring rhyming: "Lockjaw". And this is unnecessarily violent, as Gerk is using his offbeat flow to kick threatening and torturing rhymes, over a Dregas beat, that's good and standing out, due to it's soulful and straight forward approach.

This record is dope enough to please those that were already fans of Jus, as well as it will be attracting new cats, get them initiated into these hard and challenging and at times selbstzweck chapters. And with the beats coming rather incredibly groomed, some of their magic was done for the trained or patient ear. Hence you are still missing the incredible El compositions at times, that worked so well with Jus' lyrics and that make every lyric to have double of its otherwise impact. Hence this is a sofa, not even on a lesser level than the first one, but on a much different level though.