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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
All of the Above, December 16, 2002
It's hard to believe that this "little problem" almost sidelined the career of one of today's sharpest emcees. Having worked as a 7th and 8th grade English teacher, his lyrical dexterity and poetic attributes are just as much a result of his schooling as his love for Hip-Hop. After achieving The Source magazine's "Unsigned Hype" accolade while still a student and selling an impressive 39,000 copies of his independently released debut singles "Braggin Writes" and "Can I Get It" in 1995 and 1996, J-Live found his highly anticipated first album, The Best Part, shelved indefinitely due to major record label consolidation. Though never released officially, the massively bootlegged effort would go on to become an underground classic. Now, thanks in part to the hype gained by the tragedy that befell The Best Part, J-Live is in the driver's seat with another highly anticipated "debut" LP, this one called All of the Above. Filled with the agile raps and quality music that fans have associated with this artist, the album will definitely strike a "blow to the state" of current mediocre Hip-Hop. So, what does it take to be a great emcee? Rhymes? Storytelling ability? Delivery? Craftsmanship? The answer is simple: All of the above. J-Live kicks things off with a universal greeting of peace and a short freestyle on "First Things First." Over the smooth jazz track laced with a rumbling bass line and vibrant xylophone accompaniment, he introduces his new album and allows himself the opportunity to vent about the fiasco that keeps his true first debut album collecting dust. It's cool that he included that so people can see that even smart and talented artists like him are vulnerable to industry politricks. With "One for the Griot" J pays respect to the revered African storytellers of old by weaving a story of his own, punctuating it with a tense guitar and piano driven track. The story he tells is of a man who awakens to find himself in a strange bed after a long night of partying and drinking at the club. The effects of the alcohol have all but erased his memory, so he struggles to remember details from the previous night and cope with his situation. Another inventive aspect of the song is that J-Live changes the ending of the song twice in a cool "Choose Your Own Adventure" book style, to further put additional twists on the story. On "A Charmed Life" J allows himself to pay respect and give thanks to his own family for raising and teaching him and exposing him to music. J also dips into some very substantive topics on All of the Above. J-Live raps some words for inspiration and support for women with the superb "Like This Anna," cleverly modifying the classic emcee adlib of "like this and a, like that and a" to build the song; creativity at its finest. This track has a very smooth "electric" vibe, reminiscent of some of the classic Hip-Hop love ballads authored by A Tribe Called Quest. Then, the Five Percenter leaps out of him for an inspired performance on the politically charged "Satisfied?" Using a folk harmonica to add dramatic effect to a popular drumbeat, the emcee imparts his thoughts about peoples priorities and values relating to wealth and social standing. He even questions the validity of looking at the police in a different light since September 11th. J raps, "The same ones that traded books for guns/ smuggled drugs for funds/ and had fun lettin' off forty-one/ but now it's all about NYPD caps, and Pentagon bumper stickers/ but yo, you still a ni**a/ it ain't right them cops and them firemen died, the sh*t is real tragic/ but it damn sure ain't magic/ it won't make the brutality disappear/ it won't pull equality from behind your ear/ it won't make a difference in a two-party country, if the President cheats to win another four years/"
But of course, aside from all the introspective and intellectual stuff, one of the chief responsibilities of an emcee is to make heads nod, and J-Live certainly satisfies this prerequisite throughout the album. After a clever poem/skit that outlines the difference between a rapper and an emcee, J declares his dedication to his vocation on "MCee." He spits high-powered vocals over the track, just having fun showcasing his abilities. With the second and third verse he even plays with his rhymes, ingeniously alternating between words that start with the letters "M" and "C." Definitely no "mindless crap" here. Asheru of the Unspoken Heard and El da Sensai stop by to join J-Live on the collaborative "3 out 7." Over one of DJ Spinna's tightest beats, the three spirited emcees drop verses, each doing an admirable job of tearing down the mic. This song absolutely should have been longer. The only real complaint fans should have with All of the Above is the fact that the slower and more serious songs are grouped together on the latter half of the album. This arrangement causes the album to feel like its dragging toward the end. Adding a few extra uptempo songs in there or a different track arrangement altogether would have helped inject some energy into that section. But overall, J-Live has put together one of the most superlative "sophomore debuts" Hip-Hop fans have ever seen with this album. It's obvious that he has learned a great deal from the artists and musicians that he's toured with, and it shows on each and every track. A credit to his versatility as an artist, J produces the majority of the tracks (even handling the scratches for the most part), though he does recruit quality personnel, such as Joe Money and DJ Jazzy Jeff's A Touch of Jazz production company, to back up his work. All of the Above allows J-Live to demonstrate what dedication and determination can accomplish when tempered with talent and ability. And the best part of it is, he's just getting started. Buy this.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
All Of The Above: It's All Good, October 27, 2002
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.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
J-Live ; All of the Above, April 25, 2006
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
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