Jaecyn Bayne

Jaecyn Bayne's debut LP, Audio Therapy, is a rapper's album. There are good raps ("Bis and Bayne," "Bodydown") and there are good beats ("Good in Goodbye," "Hunger"), but there aren't that many complete songs where everything comes together. "Stateside" is a rare exception; Jaecyn demonstrates charisma, a good flow, good transition from verse to chorus and affecting lyrical content, establishing an analogy between rap and war. At his very best and most energetic, Jaecyn sounds like Jadakiss, with the gruff voice and street rhymes. At his very worst, Jaecyn doesn't sound like Jadakiss. Jadakiss made the NYC streets into his rap hall pass. In other words, you can't flunk out of the police academy if you served in Nam. Yet Jaecyn Bayne doesn't hail from NYC; his music is East coast-influenced, tinged with cold piano, jazzy horns and scratchy samples. He works with East coast artists (Bronze Nazareth, Fred the Godson), but he's from the South — North Charleston, South Carolina, to be exact. This is why his music doesn't (naturally) have that extreme pathos artists like Jada have; South Carolina is known more for its historical sites than its ghetto hood culture. Jaecyn will have to work on that aspect of his craft — his "hoodness" — if he wishes to pursue a lane in the East coast market, because although Audio Therapy may be proof enough back home, East coast rap fans judge talent by the size of your balls.