Customer Reviews

Three Piece Puzzle [Vinyl]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jnerio Jarel? Who that be? This is what I thought when I received this album in the mail to put in rotation at my radio station. Well this kid turns out to be a producer extraordinaire who happens to emcee just a little bit to. As soon as you pop this album in you are welcomed to his world which is just a little different. Presently residing in Philly he has spent much of his life all over the place. Born in Brooklyn, acquiring the art of rhyme in Houston and perfecting it in New York (with stops in many other places in between) Jarel has a wide range of influences that make his album that much more intriguing. With obvious ties to the Philly "Sound" his style is all his own with influences ranging from the Native Tongues to Soul & Jazz, and even to that Madlib funk. Jnerio gives us an album that is both instrumental and rhymed on. Some tracks he delivers that classic soul vibe and he may throw some ad-libs in (and you thought only commercial artists did this!) with a singer such as Vinia Mojica, of Reflection Eternal fame, crooning away like it was a jam session with the around the way band. Or he may just deliver a straight up hip hop cut where he flows to a beat that he cooked up with who knows how many samples layered in. Overall Jnerio delivers an album that is more like an unsolvable puzzle: the combination of styles, samples, and guests will prevent you from ever fully completing it, but they will also leave you no choice but to keep coming back to it.

This album is one of my favorites!! Jneiro Jarel is a musical genius and I hope to see more projects from him. Listening to this album is like walking through the city at night...bright lights and neon signs, people, cars and good vibes...this probably doesn't make any sense but listen and you will see...the 2nd track speaks for itself. This is the perfect feel good hip hop album out there...give it a listen!!

If you like hip-hop jazzy, soulful and sometimes experimental - be sure to cop this. Some tracks sound a bit like slum village, some are Tribe Called Quest-ish, but mostly he sounds DIFFERENT. Lots of versatility. Completely based in hip-hop but branching out to freaky jazz, some rock, electronic stuff, soul and more. I happened to meet this cat who's originally from Houston and now lives in Brooklyn over the internet at mp3.com a couple of years ago and now he's signed to a label right out of my homebase: Amsterdam, The Netherlands. What a small world.. The label is called Kindred Spirits Records. Check for it.

This album is worth every cent!! A couple of the cuts are futuristic...so dope, it turns me on!! Seriously, check out his website (...) and just hear for yourself.

I was lucky enough to have a homeboy at a local shop turn me on to this album, and not at the import price either. While this album can be classified Hip-hop, it's so much more. The tracks are mixed together seemlessly and flow from each track into the other with a pleasure only met by connecting Classical music with Hip-hop (Adagio Entrance/Close, Mecca & The Soul Brother). Every track strengthens, and by the time they start rock'n'rollin', you'll be wondering who changed the disc, even though nobody has. Ask your local retailers to carry this CD, and connect with it.

A gang of people I respect a great deal swear by Jneiro Jarel. I include that disclaimer, because I only partially agree. To review this record, I have to separate Jneiro Jarel the producer from Jneiro Jarel the MC. One is world-class, the other a hair past mediocre. The bad first: "Three Piece Puzzle" is virtually devoid of compelling lyrics and hooks. This is a direct function of Jneiro Jarel's lyrical skill level. There are bright spots on the record (i.e. "It's Like Fire Yo!" or "Doinis") where the vocals find a stride, but more often entry-level lyrics detract from the album's uniformly stellar production.

Fortunately, this is not your standard album. Every song is not centered on two verses and the accompanying hooks. Jarel allocates whole sections of the project to flex his musicality with only the slightest vocal trappings to distract from his mastery on the production side. Examples include "Sun Walkers", where Jarel's lush arrangement sets the stage beautifully for a minimal vocal chant with the combination driving the piece over the top, or "Soul Starr" where the mood altering emotional pull of the instrumental work is allowed to stand on its own.

Concentrating on the songs which focus on traditional hip-hop verses sells this album far too short. Jarel succeeds most when he eschews vocals or when he treats those vocals (in the form of either short bursts or repeated chants) as just another element in the larger production.