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?