Search - J-Live :: All of the Above

All Of The Above: It's All Good

G. M. Jenkins | Mountain View, CA United States | 10/28/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"J-Live's "first second album," All Of The Above, is an excellent hip-hop album that delivers on all levels. I first heard J-Live on the Handsome Boy Modeling School album where he drops one verse on "The Truth", and i was blown away by his tight flow, his awesome rhyming, and his seemingly infinite ideas. Needless to say, i picked up his album as soon as it came out. The album has excellent graphic design and informative liner notes by J-Live.
J-Live is a complete MC, and the best there is today. He is clever, funny, easy to understand, passionate, fearless, deep, political, cocky, skillfull as hell, inclusive, and respects hip-hop's past. Other than the bonus track featuring Asheru and El Da Sensai, J-Live is the only MC on the whole album. And the thing is, you don't even notice because he is so good. J-Live has a few trademarks which include creating rhymes that work both on a storytelling and conceptual level. He also is really good at taking everyday hip-hop phrases and flipping them and giving them a more literal meaning.
The production on this album is good, and doesn't outshine what's going on in the vocals. The beats represent a nice variety of musical styles, from dancehall to smooth jazz to straight up hip-hop.
Standout Tracks:
"Satisfied?," where he fearlessly and masterfully comments on the post-9/11 situation.
"MCee," where J-Live uses only words that start with M and then C for the whole second verse, and starts each line with M or C in the third.
"Like This Anna", where J-Live turns "like this anna, a like that anna" and turns it into a song about a hypothetical girl named Anna.
"One For The Griot", where J-Live tells a story, then backs it up and changes the ending two times.
"Stir Of Echoes" (last verse), where J-Live drops one of the trippiest rhymes i've ever heard.
"Do That S#!%" where J-Live fights hip-hop ignorance.
and "All In Together Now" where J-Live takes a verse at half speed in fragments, and then speeds up the delivery while switching all of the fragments around to give a different meaning. He does this on two verses. It's amazing.
This album gets better with each listen and in my opinion, is the best hip-hop album of 2002. Don't sleep on this one."

J-Live ; All of the Above

? | United Kingdom! | 04/26/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"NOW IF YOU WANT TO KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT THIS ALBUM, READ THIS REVIEW. DONT IGNORE IT BECAUSE IT'S LONG!

With that said...Slept on by many, All of the above is the epitmoe of hiphop; Amazing lyrics, flow, stories, beats, samples, scratches & concepts all into one. J-Live; one of the most slept on and underrated MC's in the entire history of hiphop, with this release, has proven just why he is considered to be of the most intelligent and creative Mc's ever to emerge from the underground. Now, the reason why so many slept on this is probably because it does not initially have the same impact that the "best part" did (and still does due to it having finally being released properly)as the best part showcased tight lyrics but even better beats w/guys such as DJ Premier, Pete Rock & other respectable producers. Whereas, All of the above is more of a lyrics & concept album...in this respect it is literally flawless. Proof of this is the exceptional joint "MCee" where J-Live threads the letters "M" and "C" into the starts of words, sentences and so many other places so brillianly it's no wonder he was an English Teacher. Now, I know peeps will be saying "yeh, well that aint original...some guys do the entire alphabet" So what...its the way in which J-Live lets his flow rip up the track and makes it rhyme at the same time.

"You know why, cause I'ma Master of Ceremonies,

Making a Comeback,

n Moving the Crowd w/ Mad Charisma,

Most of y'all cornballs, Mingle at Concerts,

Making a Claim but you know who is the ['MC']

More Concentration on My Cadence Might Cloud your mind

Controlling your Movement Capaciously,

My Capacity to Massacre Crumbs And Motive Change

Most Certainly Makes you Consider Me,

Champion, Microphone is Consistently,

Modelling Candor of Magnificence,

Cunning and Marvelous,

Crafty yet Malevolent,

To all Cultivators of Mindless Crap!



Yeh, now thats what you call Hiphop, and thats whats missing in this game...originality. Now, to dwell on only one song would mean surely that the whole album pales in comparison...NO! Pretty much all tracks on this album have their own concepts and sound that make the album a much more of a varied listen. For example tracks like "How Real It Is" talk about the realness of life in actuality and what responsibilites come with handling your ish like a man. Then "Satisfied" (Considered by some to be the best J Live track of all time) talks about the tragedy of 9/11 and priorities and values that we all share. The beat is just crazy on this one..making you want to throw your fist up and stand for something. Then on a more lingustically clever approach, Live tells a Vivid story with a variety of twists on "one for the griot", whilst "Like This Anna" uses the idea of a woman named "Anna" to play with the idea of the phrase "it's like this and a, its like that and a" used commonly in hiphop today. However, for me, the best of these is "A Charmed Life" where live talks about his life stages over a ridiculously chilled out and charming jazz vibe.

Now I would say the ONLY Flaw about this album is the way that the "stir of echoes" track and the "interlude" were put together as they are both easily the most un-satisfying of the tracks and definitely slow the energy of the album down. But that's the only flaw for me with this album. Now, With all that said any REAL hiphop head (and I mean it, I aint using this played out term for nothing) MUST OWN THIS, along with the best part! You will have stumbled across a gem that you never really payed much attention to.



One of the best Lyrical masterpieces ever created, All of the above is something that you cannot afford to just ignore! J-Live if you reading this then KEEP DOIN YOUR THING, it really is appreciated over here in the UK...keep on keeping it LIVE!

And with that said...all I can say is 10/10 Lyrics 9/10 Beats (and thats being critical) a slept on refreshing classic.



Lyrics - 10/10

Beats - 10/10

Originality - 10/10

Replay Value - 9/10



P.S. Pick up anything else by J-Live



If you found this helpful, check out my other reviews

"

Hip hops best kept secret

M. C. Peixoto | Seattle | 10/14/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'll bet if you asked 10 hip hip fans who J-live was, only about 2 could reply. Even though hes not that well known he can still spit fire. This is his best release with his rare CD "The Best Part" (if you get lucky, buy it if you can) coming close. Pick this up, even fans of other types of music will like this."