Four Wing Killa

I'm starting to become a regular reporter on the musical stylings of Joejas, because I've got his latest here for you today.   Left Handed Bandit is the third Joejas album I'm covering, but his fifth overall.  I've already introduced him to you guys, so I won't waste time making the same, easy Tyler the Creator comparisons.  But I did just throw his name out there quickly to give a quick reminder of the rough ballpark we're, musically.  And as with his previous projects, everything is written, produced and performed by Joejas himself, so there's a real self-expressive auteurist vibe to the whole project.

It's also a pretty short album, checking in with only nine tracks and those only totaling about 20ish minutes.  But that works in its favor.  One gripe you might recall I had with some of his previous songs was that they were, "too comfortable to just ride the rhythm of a repetitious hook.  I ran low on patience a couple of times just wanting him to keep it moving to the next rap portion."  That pacing stuff's not an issue here; apart from an entirely instrumental track near the end, this whole album moves at a tight clip.

It takes some risks, too, which I appreciate.  "Run!?" is a bit of a rock rap cut, featuring crashing drum cymbals and crunchy electric guitar riffs, echoing those 80 electric guitar-infused jams like "The Fuck Shop" or "The Girl Tried To Kill Me."  But of course where those are juvenile sex songs, Joejas's is a decidedly more thoughtful exploration of the pressures to succeed: "Question I have lately/ Making sure regrets don't chase me/ Mouth talk while the mind still hazy/ So for now, regrets can't phase me/ The happy and free one, the shoulder to lean on/ Might say just: amputate me!/ ...How many times did you feel you couldn't run/ Not from these problems, but these goals you wish would come?/ They tell me time is tickin' if I ain't sort my mission/ In they time they givin'.  But fuck that, this my own vision."  "Off Kilter" dips back into some of those 80s rock vibes, too, but this time meshed with an old Miami bass element.

Other songs hew closer to his earlier work, but Joejas is always switching up the tone (sometimes mid-song; his beats never rest as simple loops), and his topics.  "Left Hearted Bandit" gets into relationships and the difficulty connecting, "Last 108 Ride" is about skating or something (honestly, I don't get all those references) and "WTF" is more of a time honored rapper's state of the union: "finna go global, check my first LP/ And the name of the band. Nigga, that's all me/ Keeps it hassle free."  Fans of Joejas will definitely be happy to see him living up to all the promise of his earlier material and continuing to deliver; and even new listeners in the mood for something artsy, youthful and experimental might find this to be a good point to dive in.

As with his previous CDs, this includes a full-color booklet with the lyrics and a page to draw your own picture.  A poster and bandit face-mask are also included.  I notice he's released his last two albums on vinyl, too, since I covered them; so maybe a Left Handed Bandit LP will drop down the road, too?

The Return Of Joejas

A couple years ago, I reviewed an album by a young, London-based MC named Joejas.  Well, he's back with his latest and fourth release, Gaps and Nomads, again entirely written, produced and otherwise assembled by himself.

My initial impression was that I dug this a little less than his previous outing, but it's been growing on me with each re-listen.  Certainly, if you're already a fan of Joejas, you've no need to worry, there's definitely still plenty you'll enjoy.  "Nomad" takes some especially bold production swings that really pay off, including electric guitar riffs and old school percussion.  And "Suedeflips!" is already one of the strongest, smoothest tracks, and then it springs to a whole second life in the last minute with the inclusion of some sweet Calypso steel drums.

My biggest complaint about the last album is still at play, though: a number of these songs feel too comfortable to just ride the rhythm of a repetitious hook.  I ran low on patience a couple of times just wanting him to keep it moving to the next rap portion.  For example, "Sally's Last Dance" could either use a second verse or a minute shaved off the running time.  And "Gappy's Overalls" starts to feel stuck in a rut, too.  Outside of that gripe, though, the album moves at a pretty quick pace.  It's just nine songs, with an average length of like 2:15, the last of which is a quirky instrumental.

And there are definitely moments when the thoughtful song-writing syncs up perfectly with the catchy, head-nodding production that harken back to the highlights of the last album.  "March 30th" is a touching tribute to his father without feeling sappy or overly sentimental.  And "Escape!" opens strong with a tight yet introspective verse, and keeps that energy flowing through the whole song:

"The picked on
But never the 'pick me.'
Since the age of 16,
Been making sick tees.
The young wizard
With the I times 3,
Chilling where the dogs sounds
With the I-N-G.
Do what I please, fuck critics.
Mid 20's blooming;
Fuck a limit.
'Cause you told to straighten up
When your path seem different,
Or they wanna feed you pills
When you hype and might fidget."

I hope he continues do what he pleases, despite us critics, because it works more often than it doesn't.  And a creative misstep trumps a cynical attempt to cash in on a trend every time.  But I really would appreciate a heavier raps-to-hooks ratio on the next outing.

Gaps and Nomads is once again available on CD in a colorful digipack with an illustrated lyrics booklet.  If you are interested in this album, I definitely recommend the physical format - I mean, above and beyond how I always recommend physical formats - because the artwork and presentation are big parts of the experience that you'd miss out on just casually clicking over to this on Spotify.

Keep Troopin' In a Place Called Four Wing Island

This was well-timed.  I've been in the mood for something new... not just in the basic sense of a song I haven't heard before, but some really new Hip-Hop.  You know, it's an easy trap to fall into when you're a little bit older where you just listen to old school Hip-Hop in your comfort zone.  And then you just listen to the biggest, dumbest pop rap song "the kids are listening to" and immediately recoil saying, okay, nothing but TDS Mob for another four years!  So I looking for a little shake-up, and as fortune would have it, this one found me.  Four Wing Island by an independent London MC named Joejas.  I mean, just look at that cover.  If this one doesn't fit the bill, nothing will.

In a sense, this feels like UK equivalent of Odd Future, scrappy, young and entirely self-made.  "All music," we're told, has been "written, recorded and produced by JoeJas."  The artwork and everything's all done by him, too.  There are no guests except for a single other voice that pops in to back him up on a couple hooks.  But where Tyler and co. came out dark, bordering on horrorcore, Joejas comes out as light (or at least un-sinister) and defiantly childlike as his artwork suggests: "just another nigga to these cops, aight, with my limbs stretchin' out my drop-top tike.  No license, registration, parents tryna pull me out said 'it's only meant for kids to play in'!  Said fuck that then I got weighed in, woke up later and my brain moved places.  Already got a mortgage and a lame whip.  God damn, bro!"

His singles (at least the ones I checked out on Youtube) are all pretty strong, though the album as a whole drifts into some weirder, more conceptual areas.  You know, like Kwamé's second album, except that album lost control to a series skits that were meant to create an over-arching narrative about a hard day at Polka Dot School or whatever.  Four Wing Island doesn't have any skits, but it tends to get lost in over-repeated hooks and esoteric references.  Like, for an obvious example, what the heck is "Four Wing Island?"  The title track tells us repeatedly that it's a place where he feels safe, and the liner notes hint that the island is a kind of reference to how each song has a distinct (isolated) tone.  But I'm not sure we're meant to have any idea where the Four Wing name comes from or what it might mean.  Like a Greenthink record, we're just left to guess at a lot of the insular references.  Not that there's anything wrong with that, but you should be forewarned going in, because they're the sort of unsolvable poetic mysteries that will frustrate as many listeners as they might intrigue and delight.

But don't get the wrong idea.  It's not as hopelessly artsy-fartsy[to use a technical term] as I may be making it sound.  Don't look for any familiar samples to latch onto, but there's a lot of emphasis on creating relatable moods (one track is a essentially a piano solo over a Hip-Hop beat), talking about just drifting around on his bike, eating alone feeling heartbroken or "stay bumfy reading comics in my undies."  "4wingkilla!" is just a fun opportunity to go hard over an aggressive beat, "even in these bright ass clothes I'm still seen as a threat... make me wanna wile out Mortal Kombat 'finish him,' uppercut rip a shin, adrenaline kickin' in."  That's a pretty tight flow there, and the lyrics are consistently well written throughout, no matter the subject.

So this is the first I've heard, but it's actually Joejas's third album.  It's out on CD in an attractive digipack with a full-color booklet of lyrics from his website.  And, as of this writing, his previous two CDs (Planet and Gappy) are still available, too.  Of course it's all streaming everywhere, too, like all music is nowadays, which is probably good, because I'm sure you'll want to try before you buy.  But I'm very glad to see there's a solid physical release for those who decide to get on board.  This reminds me of the Atak days, with a catalog full of mystifying scrappy young idealists releasing tape after tape, pushing the envelope and being just a little too "out there" for the undaring.  Just what the doctor ordered.