Hot on the heels of previous single (the Premier-produce Good As Gone) comes…why – another single! This time around West Coast underground legends Dilated Peoples do the do atop the Jake One-produced Show Me The Way featuring a hook sung by one Aloe Blacc – presumably in need of a dollar or if not – at least aiming to help Rakaa, Evidence and Babu get hold of a few. This time
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Tag Archives: Jake One
DILATED PEOPLES feat. ALOE BLACC: Show Me The Way (prod. JAKE ONE)(2014) + video
BROTHER ALI: Writer’s Block (prod. Jake One) (2012) video + free download
We’ve all been there – no matter how hard you strain, nothing comes out. Yep – writer’s block is a bastard. Thankfully, the jewel in the Rhymesayers label’s crown, Brother Ali managed to gain relief by the ingenious means of writing about the fact that he couldn’t think of anything to write about. And it wouldn’t be the first time in hip-hop that this solution to lyrical constipation has
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FREEWAY & JAKE ONE: The Stimulus Package – 2010 – Album review
Rating: 
Time is at a premium this week so regular readers may notice the extended tenure of the ‘guest review style of the week’ from a fortnight ago to facilitate our exploraton of this freshly-released offering from Leslie Edward Pridgen and Jacob Dutton. Or Freeway and Jake One as their mums know them…
WHAT’S RIGHT WITH IT?
Well, and I hate to sound like a stuck record here (y’know – one of those big black cd things), it’s the production stupid. Jake One delivers an impressive sound that you could go to the bank with, correctly getting the bottom end right as if he couldn’t care less what this sounded like on mobile phone speakers. It’s also worth noting when he gets a bit inventive with the beats as on the clattering snares of ghetto tale Never Gonna Change which initially sounded like El-P had popped round for a cup of tea and had a crack at the drum programming while Jake was in the toilet but later resonates as the most memorable beat on the album. Also Microphone Killa livens things up and sees Freeway and Young Chris trade battle rhymes over a lively slice of boom-bap and furious scratching though, in common with much of the album, it could have done with being more stripped down and minimal. Freeway gets in some pretty memorable lines too – on The Product for instance where he delivers flow from the viewpoint of drugs and has a crack at the gangsta mentality, “Yes, I’m the product, I’m the narcotic/ I got all these rappers working for me/ Yes, I’m the product, I am like the chronic/ I’ve got Dr Dre detoxin’ off me,”…or during Sho’ Nuff where I hope he’s taking the piss with, “Who’s bad? I’m bad/ I am Michael Jackson, Puff Daddy bad/ Boy I will strike you with a belt like your dad/ I will rock your bells I am LL bad.” You don’t get the impression that he is overshadowed by his guests (including Raekwon and Beanie Sigel) at any rate. Furthermore this particular stimulus package is a consistent for its duration and you don’t feel that the pair have buried lots of half-assed filler after the two thirds point – witness the soul-hook of Money, for example, which features Omilio Sparks and Mr Porter – one of the stronger tracks on the LP and thirteenth out of fifteen.
WHAT’S WRONG WITH IT
Jake One’s rather good solo long-player White Van Music from a year or two back might have led you to expect some sort of musical variety on this so it comes as something of a disappointment to discover that ninety per cent of The Stimulus Package is – ho-hum – 80-90 bpm beats and multi-layered orchestral soul loops. It’s a template we’ve all heard a million times in the last decade in both the underground and the mainstream and frankly, it’s getting a bit wearing. In fact it puts me in mind of the Black Milk’s Popular Demand a couple of years back which was feted like nuclear fusion had been discovered or something but failed to ignite planet hip-hop and makes me long for a back-to-basics (funny how the language of political spin keeps turning up in hip-hop) approach. Talking of wearing (like I was a minute ago) – the idea of Freeway and his strained, high-pitched flows gets a bit thin after nearly an hour too.
VERDICT
Whatever other unlikely legacies the Obama administration might leave behind, the one surefire thing will be a multitude of hip-hop LPs and mixtapes (including, apart from this one, offerings from Del The Funky Homosapien and South Rakkas Crew) all entitled The Stimulus Package. Unlike Obama’s stimulus package (which might have reversed economic freefall by the skin of its teeth) I haven’t yet heard one which will do much to reverse the generic freefall of hip-hop though this particular one might slow it for a bit. Very good of its kind even if its ‘kind’ could do with a bit of a rest.
FREEWAY & JAKE ONE: ‘Know What I Mean’ video 2010
First single on the highly anticipated Freeway/ Jake One collabo on Rhymesayers Stimulus Package (more details HERE), ‘Know What I Mean’ may come in low and slow, but it’s radar image is roughly the size of Minneapolis. Or should that be Seattle? Or even Philly? Whatever. It ain’t jiggy. Chek! Vid after links…
Jake One – Myspace
Freeway – Myspace
FREEWAY & JAKE ONE: ‘The Stimulus Package’ album news + tracklist + ‘Hands On’ video + free ‘The Beat Made Me Do It’ mixtape
Back in the day it used to be so easy. In fact, the recipe is so straightforward it’s hard to see why so few manage it these days. What am I on about? Getting a decent rapper and a decent DJ/ Producer to actually work together of course. Jake One’s 2008 drop White Van Music was one of that year’s better hip-hop releases and the Freeway track How We Ride was one of the better tracks on it. Expectations are high then, for the pair’s collabo The Stimulus Package, released 15 February this year on Rhymesayers. In the meantime check out Jake One’s bad man wagon on the Hands On video – he’s so G he rolls in a hatchback. Better than a white van though…oh yeah and have a free mixtape on the pair of them and DOWNLOAD – The Beat Made Me Do It mixtape HERE.
Press release and tracklist beneath the video…
(PRESS RELEASE) February 17th, 2009 in an effort to stimulate the U.S. economy President Barack Obama signed into law The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, better known as the stimulus package. On February 15th of 2010, another bad brother Philadelphia Freeway, seizes the moment and sets out to stimulate the Hip Hop industry by signing into law the Hip Hop Recovery and Reinvestment Act with the release of his third official studio album “The Stimulus Package”.
Produced entirely by veteran G-Unit producer Jake One, “The Stimulus Package” showcases some of Freeway’s most dynamic and engaging work to date. The collaboration of these two heavyweights along with the strength of independent powerhouse Rhymesayers Entertainment [home to Atmosphere, Brother Ali and MF Doom] makes The Stimulus Package already one of the year’s most anticipated releases.
Since his breakout Roc-A-Fella debut “Philadelphia Freeway” in 2003, which achieved gold status selling over 500,000 units, Freeway has consistently been regarded as “your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper”. Releasing his sophomore follow up “Free at Last” in 2007, which featured the Jake One produced classic “It’s Over”, Freeway has kept his skills sharp recording numerous mixtapes, unofficial albums and online leaks all while playing hundreds of shows across the country.
Jake One & Freeway – The Stimulus Package – Tracklist
1. STIMULUS INTRO feat. Beanie Sigel
2. THROW YOUR HANDS UP
3. ONE FOOT IN
4. SHE MAKES ME FEEL ALRIGHT
5. NEVER GONNA CHANGE
6. ONE THING feat. Raekwon
7. KNOW WHAT I MEAN
8. THE PRODUCT
9. MICROPHONE KILLA feat. Young Chris
10. FOLLOW MY MOVES feat. Birdman
11. SHO’ NUFF feat. Bun B
12. FREEKIN’ THE BEAT feat. Latoiya Williams
13. MONEY feat. Omilio Sparks and Mr. Porter
14. FREE PEOPLE
15. STIMULUS OUTRO
MONKEYBOXING.COM – Top 10 Albums – 2008
Here’s what you should have bought…
See Monkeyboxing.com’s – Top 10 Tracks – 2008 HERE)
1. THE BLACK KEYS – Attack & Release (V2)
Triumphant fuzzed-out blues groove return for the ‘Keys.
Listen
Read more
Myspace
2. K-DELIGHT – Audio Revolution (Playing Around)
K-Dilla on the cut – the year’s most convincing B-boy document.
Listen
Read more
Myspace
3. THE BAMBOOS – Side Stepper (Tru Thoughts)
“Oh my god that’s some funky shit!”
Listen
Read more
Myspace
4. UGLY DUCKLING – Audacity (Fat Beats)
Long Beach hip-hoppers back with a more sophisticated and mature sound.
Listen
Read more
Myspace
5. THE COOL KIDS – The Bake Sale (Chocolate Industries)
“Make some noise, it’s the new black version of The Beastie Boys”!
Listen
Read more
Myspace
6. DJ DESIGN – Jetlag (Look Records)
The former Foreign Legion DJ makes his mark with this fresh LP.
Listen
Read more
Myspace
7. PARKER – Western Soul (Rocstar Recordings)
Bristol bassssssssssss!
Listen
Read more
Myspace
8. JAKE ONE – White Van Music (Rhymesayers)
Collaboration city! Jake One puts Seattle hip-hop on the map.
Listen
Read more
Myspace
9. THE NEW MASTERSOUNDS – Plug & Play (One Note)
Multiple flavours of effortless funk from mod, to New Orleans, afrobeat to Blue Note.
Listen
Read more
Myspace
10. G LOVE & SPECIAL SAUCE – Superhero Brother (Brushfire)
Feel-good funky, rootsy, blues bumps, like always.
Listen
Read more
Myspace
Jake One – The Truth – Video feat. Brother Ali & Freeway
Yo! Freeway and Brother Ali get all up in your shit for the video to Jake One’s latest single The Truth off his quality debut LP White Van Music.
Read MONKEYBOXING REVIEW of White Van Music HERE.
Read MONKEYBOXING INTERVIEW with Jake One HERE
JAKE ONE – White Van Music – 2008 – Album review
Rating:
If you’re reading this in the UK you can relax – LP title White Van Music is not a reference to commercial radio stations that play Girls Aloud at speaker-blowing volumes – DJ/Producer Jake One doesn’t roll like that. His homies do however include De La Soul, MF Doom, E40, Nas and Fifty Cent (to name but a few) – in fact – he’s part of the G-Unit production team. ‘What?’ I hear you ask, ‘is this man trying to appeal to both the underground and the mainstream? How does he straddle this divide? Like a colossus – or like a clown with one foot on a roller skate and the other on a banana skin?’ Well, on the evidence of White Van Music, I have to say the answer tends more toward the former.
On this, his debut solo LP, Jake One works with rappers as mainstream as Busta Rhymes and as cult as MF Doom and Slug: as old school as Casual and Posdnuos and as hyphy as Keak Da Sneak. He chamelonically adapts his sound to each MC without attempting to blatantly ape the sound for which each rapper is known. So what is Jake One’s sound? First track I’m Coming pretty much answers that one – fat beats shot through with a heavy dose of seventies soul. A blaxploitation sample about being high on ‘musical dope’ gives way to a chant of ‘Open up I’m coming’ that sounds like a war-party of psycho munchkins before Black Milk and Nottz kick a dope verse. It’s one of the best tracks on the LP, though MOP ‘joint’ Gangsta Boy and Brother Ali vehicle The Truth keep the quality until the first interlude. The D Black and Little Brother cuts which follow aren’t bad but they just aren’t all that distinctive either. Things pick up a bit with the skipping break on the Posdnuos and Slug’s Oh Really and Doom rolls it all abstract on the noirish Trap Door. Freeway gets lively again on How We Ride and is given a suitably upbeat backdrop, Doom gets a second highly satisfactory crack at the whip on Get ‘Er Done and Hiero soldier Casual gets all up in your face with Feelin’ My Shit. As far as lyrical themes go it’s (unsurprisingly) ninety per cent all about how dope each rapper is – though Blueprint obviously felt secure enough about himself to tell a story about the shit that happened when he was seeing some gangsta chick rather than constantly big himself up in Scared. You won’t be at all surprised to learn that the prize for best rhymes goes to the effortless Daniel ‘Doom’ Dumile though.
This isn’t an LP where the quality drops off radically after the first two thirds, in fact there’s nothing wack on here at all – even Busta Rhymes holds back on the cheese and production is warm and full – not unlike my new baby’s nappy – though that stinks and Jake One’s production does not. In fact there’s only two flavours of Jake One in evidence – the not bad and the pretty good. I guess I could’ve done with a little more variety in tempo or style – but there’s variety in MCs instead. It would be cheap to end by punning that everything is pretty much ‘jake’ with White Van Music, but hey – it’s true.
Out now on Rhymesayers
Buy White Van Music: Jake One Presents @ amazon.co.uk
JAKE ONE – Interview
READ MONKEYBOXING.COM review of JAKE ONE – White Van Music
DJ/ Producer Jake One’s LP White Van Music drops on 27 October – listen HERE to taster track The Truth feat. Freeway and Brother Ali and read what happened when the Monkey caught up with him to ask about that LP title and more:
Monkeyboxing (MB): In the UK, the words White’ and ‘Van when put together have connotations of chauvinistic, working class males who reveal too much ass-crack, and demonstrate a spectacular lack of consideration for other road users. The phrase ‘White Van Music’ in particular would connote commercial radio (especially those stations playing mainstream hits from the 80s) played at noise-abatement order volumes. Does your LP’s title have a similar cultural significance in the U.S.?
Jake One (J): Naw not really. I actually came up with White Van Music in ’93 when I did my first song ever with my homie G Brown. I called my beat tape ‘White Van Beats’ and named my publishing ‘White Van Music’ on a whim 10 years ago and I’ve been running with it ever since. I used the title more to symbolize how long I’ve been doin this.
MB: I used to think that sampling would always keep hip hop fresh by allowing DJ/producers to have the jump on any new sound or genre by being able to chop it up, loop it or whatever. Despite that, the mainstream seems all played out and washed up with frequent references to hip-hop being dead while the underground is largely informed by retro styles. You’ve worked with a wealth of artists on both sides of the fence – how much life do you think is left in the old dog?
J: I think Hip Hop started to fall off with biting became acceptable. I try to not to make “retro” hip hop. I definitely create from the same foundation of the mid 90’s but I try to put different wrinkles in it to make it sound different. I think that’s how I’ve been able to work with a lot of commercial artists over the past couple years. The stuff I’m doing has a organic vibe but it sounds “big”.
MB: On your LP, you collaborate with both underground and mainstream MCs – was there anyone you wanted to work with but didn’t manage to and what made you want to work with that person?
J: I wanted to do something with Ghostface but I couldn’t quite pull it together. He’s one of my favorite artists because of his character. Dude has a book with him just talking that is entertaining. Not too many people can pull that off.
MB: The Cool Kids, Kidz In The Hall and The Knux (to name but a few) have all been listed as ones to watch but equally are often dismissed as ‘hipster rap’. Is this just the more conservative voices in hip-hop venting jealousy at a changing of the guard or is there some substance to this complaint about lack of substance?
J: The whole complaining about rap style can be just as grating as Soulja Boy to me personally. Make a good record about something instead of complaining about the radio. Most of the underground artists do want that mainstream success. There are very few who turn down that big major label deal.
MB: I read an article recently that speculated on the possibility that eventually we will be able to download any song from the internet for free and that artists would make more money depending on the popularity of their tracks with the royalties presumably raised from advertising revenue. Inevitably bootleg mp3s of artists’ work finds its way onto the net undermining legal sales and many artists are starting to release free downloads. Where do you think the future lies?
J: I don’t know. Clearly the money is shrinking for the artists and the labels. Its kinda crazy how people have this attitude now that they deserve the music for free. I still buy cd’s and records but it’s just something I’ve done my whole life. I’ve never thought that music really owes me anything, so if times get hard I’ll go back to regular life and get a job. Music isn’t the only thing I can do with my life. Its always going to be something I love to do though.
MB: Are you going to drop your LP on vinyl?
J: Yup.
MB: Good answer! Thanks for talking with Monkeyboxing and good luck with the LP – the last word is yours – anything you want to say?
J: If you downloaded the album and like it, please buy that shit! It’s that simple.
