Illa J Review

Illa J
Yancey Boys
Delicious Vinyl, 2008

I reviewed Illa J's Yancey Boys album this week on RapReviews. Here.

Illa, in case you don't know, was J Dilla aka Jay Dee aka James Yancey's younger brother. Dilla being the producer who died a few years ago from lupus. The album is alright, mostly because Dilla's beats are always worth a listen. I wasn't into the generic subject matter of the lyrics, but then Illa's older brother wasn't the world's most amazing lyricist (or rapper) ever. His main skill was behind the boards, not behind the mic. Illa does have a pretty good singing voice, and he's a decent rapper, so he's got that going for him.

The promo CD was some bullshit though. Each song was divided into five 30-40 second tracks, which makes it harder to illegal post online, and harder to listen to on an ipod. Then, ever ten seconds some jackass would say, in this lame-o voice, "HI! This is (jackass fuckface). I've found that the best way to listen to music is not to upload it, but to boom it in your jeep." What jeep, Gomer? I gotta upload it so I can listen to it in my jeep.

Kids, don't illegally download music: it makes labels go through really irritating lengths to avoid it.