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Formats and Editions
1. Here
2. Aaw Yeah
3. Fire Water
4. Do My Thing
5. Whoever
6. Sidewalks, The
7. Audio Visual
8. Brooklyn Public, Pt. 1
9. Listening
10. Harder
11. Coming Home
12. Weather the Storm
13. After
More Info:
One of rap music's finest emcees, J-Live has been exemplifying greatness since his start when he was featured the Source Magazine's "Unsigned Hype" column in the mid-90s. Now firmly established and respected in the underground community, and having worked with luminaries Handsome Boy Modeling School, Jazzy Jeff, Prince Paul, DJ Premier and Pete Rock, J-Live is set to release his finest recordings to date entitled HEAR AFTER.Reviews:
There are three types of underground MC: the car-trunk hustler mixtape dons who aim for a shot at street stardom, the abstract cats who twist wigs with wordplay too knotted for the pop charts and the worn-out vets who forgot how to stay fresh. J-Live's "Braggin' Writes" and "Hush the Crowd" remain two of the best indie rap singles of the mid '90s, and he recovered solidly from an industry-mishap hiatus a few years back to release a couple of decent records (2001's The Best Part and 2002's All of the Above). But on The Hear After he's coasting: the surprisingly unquotable lyrics run off rote recitations of halfhearted boasts, meaningless wordplay, and listlessly delivered non-punchlines.A large portion of the album tries to curry club favor with cheap, tinny beats that fall roughly between Pete Rock and Mannie Fresh, only without the former's lush swing or the latter's macro-sonic drive. J-Live rhymes like a man who doesn't care much anymore, and aside from his lack of emotion, the album's biggest failing is a lack of personality. If you take his schoolteacher day job into account, you can dismiss Hear After as a lecture, easy to ignore in lieu of a clock that's rapidly approaching final bell.
