eMusic Review
After a half-decade of squandering time, the once-vibrant Los Angeles hip-hop underground has mounted a comeback in 2008, led in large part by the crew at Tres Records. The prolific trio of Blu, Shawn Jackson and Giant Panda have helped the tiny indie label gain notoriety, which is sure to only increase with the release of New Jack Hustle's Sound Check, a collaboration between Jackson and Newman of Giant Panda.
With Newman supplying beats (and a few rhymes), the production finds a happy medium between the retro minimalism currently in vogue and the backpack-friendly, neo-boom bap popularized by LA's last wave of subterraneans. With a rhyme style falling somewhere between Rhymefest, Freeway and People Under the Stairs, Jackson acquits himself admirably on the mic, alternating between B-boy boasts and more earthly concerns (the Reagan-Bush polemic "Ronald"; the anti-smoking "Last Newport"). With its blithe instrumental interludes and laid-back feel, the album conjures a vibe of weekend bliss — there's even a song called "Sunday Afternoon."
Nothing here will strike anyone as novel. This is hip-hop as comfort food: red-meat raps paired with starchy soul beats. But few could argue the vibrancy and buoyancy of New Jack's sound.
