J-Zone

Granny, in-house model for Old Maid Entertainment, strikes another fantastic, give-me-no-bullshit pose on the cover of J-Zone's sophomore EP, A Bottle Of Whup Ass. Second time around is even better than the first, Music For... Tu Madre. Sometimes self-deprecating but always humorous, J-Zone, along with guest MCs Al-Shid and Huggy Bear, present a variety of different concepts - from the tyranny of school to platonic relationships to a day with no law. While J-Zone comes of all right lyrically, the majority of the lyrical highlights belong to Huggy Bear, who also shined predominantly on the last EP. The best songs on A Bottle Of Whup Ass are those where Huggy Bear mauls the mic: "No Consequences," "Orphan Babies" and "Holy Water." J-Zone proves himself more than capable on the ones-and-twos with the turntable track "Calamine Lotion (Part II)," along with cuts throughout the EP, but where J-Zone truly excels is with his production. He constructs beats that are part Saturday morning cartoon and part after school special, using numerous samples I wish I had discovered. It's sort of a mix between Prince Paul's skit-oriented production (especially De La's Three Feet High And Rising) and DJ Moves' experimental party jams. I don't know if A Bottle Of Whup Ass will become a classic, but there's a couple of songs on here that are creeping up on the J-Zone masterpiece "Candy Razors."