2008 Woodie Awards
CD Review: J Downs is not All-Division on new album
Jeremy Carmona
Issue date: 2/28/08 Section: Entertainment
02/28/08 - In the world of hip-hop, rarely do you come across an album based solely on acoustics. You come across your "Unplugged" albums and live concert albums. But the artists who release those albums have generally released albums prior to the live concert ones.
J Downs of San Diego has decided to break the mold and on All-Division he decides his best bet is to go live and instrumental.
All-Division is a good attempt at trying to experiment with the softer side of hip-hop and incorporate a band with a SoCal feeling. Downs comes across as a faux version of Everlast, during his "Whitey Ford Sings the Blues" days.
The track "Hit Em Off" pays homage to the cities of Providence, Cranston, Smithfield and Narragansett, which completely blew me away, seeing as though Downs hails from the West Coast. The song is very relaxed with a number of guitar reverbs and smooth chemistry between Downs and the band.
"Invalid," a track that can be considered a legitimate rock song, confuses me with what kind of artist Downs is. Experimentation with other genres is fine, but Downs needs to realize that you if you're going to diversify an album with tracks sampling other genres, they need to be justifiably good and memorable.
Rims and sunshine go hand and hand in the lifestyle of Downs on "Any Day." This track is a pathetic attempt on trying to fit the stereotypical dealings of a rapper by mentioning the desire to have one hundred dollar bills, Cristal and car keys.
"Can We Vibe" is the best track on the album because J Downs takes his chill attitude and arrogant sensibility and morphs both into a rapper's delight. A song that I interpreted as rappers across the world getting together and having fun freestyling, Downs has fun on this track by lacing it with a lyrical rhymefest.
All-Division is one of those albums that's good to play as background music while doing homework- you know, you it play it but you're not really paying attention to it. Downs just seems confused at what he's trying to do. Is he a rocker or a rapper or both, like Fred Durst.
From the album cover, which is Downs bent over with a look of thoughtfulness and aggression (complete with Photoshopped buildings in the backdrop) I'd say he's a rapper.
Overall, All-Division is an album with an ambitious approach at trying something different but the end result didn't turn out so well.
J Downs of San Diego has decided to break the mold and on All-Division he decides his best bet is to go live and instrumental.
All-Division is a good attempt at trying to experiment with the softer side of hip-hop and incorporate a band with a SoCal feeling. Downs comes across as a faux version of Everlast, during his "Whitey Ford Sings the Blues" days.
The track "Hit Em Off" pays homage to the cities of Providence, Cranston, Smithfield and Narragansett, which completely blew me away, seeing as though Downs hails from the West Coast. The song is very relaxed with a number of guitar reverbs and smooth chemistry between Downs and the band.
"Invalid," a track that can be considered a legitimate rock song, confuses me with what kind of artist Downs is. Experimentation with other genres is fine, but Downs needs to realize that you if you're going to diversify an album with tracks sampling other genres, they need to be justifiably good and memorable.
Rims and sunshine go hand and hand in the lifestyle of Downs on "Any Day." This track is a pathetic attempt on trying to fit the stereotypical dealings of a rapper by mentioning the desire to have one hundred dollar bills, Cristal and car keys.
"Can We Vibe" is the best track on the album because J Downs takes his chill attitude and arrogant sensibility and morphs both into a rapper's delight. A song that I interpreted as rappers across the world getting together and having fun freestyling, Downs has fun on this track by lacing it with a lyrical rhymefest.
All-Division is one of those albums that's good to play as background music while doing homework- you know, you it play it but you're not really paying attention to it. Downs just seems confused at what he's trying to do. Is he a rocker or a rapper or both, like Fred Durst.
From the album cover, which is Downs bent over with a look of thoughtfulness and aggression (complete with Photoshopped buildings in the backdrop) I'd say he's a rapper.
Overall, All-Division is an album with an ambitious approach at trying something different but the end result didn't turn out so well.