The phrase ‘this joint is the shiznit’ (much like the word unblowapple) is thrown around alot these days. Now I’ve never been one to listen to what is considered ‘hip hop’ in recent years, but if a DJ dropped a track like KRS-One’s ‘Step Into A World’ in da club, you bet your gold plated grill I would be air-punch dancing like the two dudes in Maestro’s ‘Let Your Backbone Slide’ video (1:35 mark).
About a month ago I came across advert promoting a show where DJ Jazzy Jeff was headlining. This piqued my curiosity as I assumed he disappeared into obscurity after the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. After some investigation I found out not only was he performing live, he has a few albums under his belt. I decided to check out his most recent ‘The Return of The Magnificent’ and man, what a great album.
Back in the early 90′s when I was gang bangin’ on the harsh streets of Elkford, I was big into hip hop from the likes of Lords Of The Underground, Das EFX and Keith Murray. Their east coast stylings with tight lyrics and jazzy like beats was music for my soul, Return of The Magnificent in it’s entirety is reminiscent of that era.
Jazzy Jeff has pulled out all the stops in this LP. Not only has he enlisted the help of some of hip hops biggest legends like Biz Markie, Big Daddy Kane, CL Smooth and even Canada’s own Kardinal Offishal, there is a very humorous sketch-style story you can follow along in excerpts throughout the album. Will Smith even makes an appearance, but not in song form (thankfully?). Combine this with the backing beats on each track is expertly spun and scratched by Jazzy Jeff and this is an album that I can safely (and proudly) call true hip hop.
5/5
P.S. – If you down with some old school hip hop, be sure to check out my YouTube playlist. Dig?
