Look Who's Rhyming
label: jay boogie

producers: dj anatomy, kraz, jay boogie
year of release: 2002
website: jay boogie
 
Now, kids, let's play this game: Write down as many words as you can think of. Then take the scissors I've handed out before and cut them out. Here comes the important part of the story: you can be reeally creative now and put them together as pairs. Rule 1: they should sound similar. Rule 2: they should possibly make sense together. Just try and see how much fun this is! And after you've completed this task, you've actually made you're own rhymes! Isn't that exciting! For those who feel like, we will put up a stage later on where you can actually perform what you've put together. Now, let's start, one, two, go!

tracklisting
1. Let Me Introduce Myself
2. This Is What I Do
3. The Write Stuff
4. Found And Lost
5. 411 (skit)
6. I Can't Be
7. My Type
8. Mr. Mister

9. The Boogie Bounce
10. Little Jimmy
11. When In Rome
12. Braggadocio
13. Exit Interview
Look who's rhyming now. It's Jay Boogie. He politely says "Let Me Introduce Myself" and just because everyone needs some orientation, we find out that we're "now on the debut of the greatest hip hopper''. "This is What I Do" has a somewhat funky sample in there and a nice high hat. Then, Jay Boogie lets us know what he sees when he looks at the horizon. Already, to be honest, we doubt if this goes beyond a college world and a nice neighbourhood. At least he's got friends who want to be schooled by him and to them he says: "well, let me remind you that, nowadays everyone wants to be me / they wanna drop a CD wanna be on TV / everyone wants to be a hip hopper / everyone wants to be a mic rocker / but see, I got 6th grade as rhyming in school / running down the hall, hollering like Ja Rule". So far, so good. After we've learned who he is, where he lives, we're now about to learn what he writes about. ("The Write Stuff"). Then, there's the girls he "Found And Lost", tales about relationships and 'his type': "That type of girl who's freaky but also classy / that type of girl who still cries when we watch Lassie / that type of girl who likes to go to the zoo / that type of girl who likes to play 'guess who?" Whatever, man.
"I Can't Be" is a reflection on the whole rap business and financial success. So while he counts the reasons why he can't be a rap star (origin, relations, budget...) we appreciate the attempt not to take everything -including himself - dead serious and still be critical about the matter. Then, after throwing all the bad things at a bothering "Mr. Mister" (girlfriends' father), we better skip this fast. "The Boogie Bounce" is not for those who expect the bounce to start at zero, rather than reaching its highest point somewhere around there...however, we better concentrate on the next track, which finally has these heads with high expectations exchange some meaningful looks. It's probably the jazz sample. And the story about a boy called James Stiller, remembered as "Little Jimmy" the killer: "Little Jimmy wasn't even old enough to drive / but somehow, he was old enough to buy a 45/ and when he got home and took it out of the box / for the first time he felt strong like an ox / there was just something about the way the steel felt / that made all of his problems just seem to melt" And on his way to mess up the school this kid somehow manages to rescue a girl from a kidnapper and become a hero. And on the next day: "the principal declared it 'James Stiller day' / and he became the coolest kid in his grade". Again, there's an attempt to tell a good story, but, unfortunately there's also this surrounding emptiness where tight rhymes are expected to be.
"Braggadocio" finally, has us relaxing out of pure relief that this - and we're so glad - may even provoke some head nodding. Moreover, it seems that there's more flow, more content, more of all on it. And we listen to the fadeout. What then comes last, is this talking about the album with some kind of shout-out, all made up like an interview, where he, Jay Boogie, starts to hit on the female interviewer. (Yeah, we know, it's still all about the girls...) Still, through his few words take away some of our negative thoughts. So we wonder: is "The Exit Interview" actually there to save the album?
Jay Boogie's is not offending anyone. But he's also not actually pleasing. There's a lot of peaceful intentions and a critical world view to be appreciated. There's nothing to say against reflections about your own neighbourhood, where ever this might be (and however absorbing).
What then, is all this skipping and frowning and head-scratching about? What then, makes us loose interest in the songs soon after the laser has found the next track? Perhaps it's the somewhat common understanding that, to make the world go round, there sometimes has to be more then just good intentions. Of course, everything starts with this good idea (which can be found on the album, no doubt), but then we're looking in vain for the nice wrapping and we wish that there would be more doing and less talking about.
So, we're waiting for Jay Boogie to unravel the whole thing, cut the words out again, mix them differently - perhaps even pick different ones - then allow himself a relaxing lunch break, come back and climb the stage to a fresh, energetic performance. And we would applaud. But until then...
review: denise
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