Then
I find Brooklyn’s own, Joell Ortiz’s debut album “The Brick:
Bodega Chronicles” resting on my desk, and hear an MC whose
sole desire is to represent himself, what he knows, and
capture the attention of anyone who’s really making the
effort to listen. Everyone that listens to him knows one
thing when the song is over – the man can rhyme.
The album centers around his popular “125 Grams” series
where he effortlessly and seamlessly dumps off 125 bar
verses detailing his life, the struggle to get where he’s at
today, and letting the listener know why he’s an MC that’s
unlike any other that’s releasing music today. Ortiz
sarcastically mocks the thought processes of record label
executives on the Frank Dukes’ banger, “125 Grams (Pt. 2)”
where he says, “’He’s kinda heavy, he’s gonna be hard to
market/ Plus he’s Latin, is that who he’s gonna target?’/ So
I’m big – so was B.I.G. so was Big Pun/ And you know like I
know that you know that they both get dumb/ So just stop it,
know that my target is everyone/ 5’ Mexicans, Africans
that’s 7’1/ I could even cater to all the Native Americans…”
But do not worry, not every song on the album is a lyrical
workout with 5+ minutes of rhyming and no breaks. There is
definitely no shortage of headnodders that follow the more
traditional song format of 16 bar verses and hooks. Always
keeping his lyrics creative and crafted cleverly, Joell
Ortiz drops sense on “Hip Hop,” and brings a smile to the
faces of anyone who could relate on “Brooklyn Bulls**t.” His
purpose isn’t to alienate any fans though. He’s not trying
to get in the way of what anyone else does with their music,
or say what doesn’t have a place in the genre; it may be a
cliché, but he truly does paint pictures with his lyrics.
Unfortunately, the album is not absolutely flawless. The
main shortcoming of the album arrives in the hands of Akon.
“Keep on Callin’” didn’t need him, and follows the trend of
having an insightful track about urban poverty while Akon
sings. It’s not a terrible song, and Ortiz is definitely
saying things that the listener should hear, but he’s not a
contribution to the overall quality of the music.
When I first
looked at the track list and saw a song featuring Styles
P, my anticipation was mounted. This is another
situation where the song isn’t terrible, but it’s just
nothing outstanding. On an
album where the majority of the production matches Joell
perfectly and most tracks have a theme, “Time Is Money”
simply comes off as lazy.
In Joell Ortiz, you find an MC with a keen sense of
self-awareness that knows how to rap and how to construct a
song that he needs the listener to relate to. If you’re
interested in an MC that refuses to compromise who he truly
is for airplay, then “The Brick” is something that should
find it’s way into your collection. This album serves its
purpose as an official product to whet our appetites until
Joell Ortiz’s Aftermath debut is ready. The Brick: Bodega
Chronicles is a better offering than his Who the F**k is
Joell Ortiz? street mixtape, and should certainly hold over
the listener until his next project hits the shelves.
“People, I’m from the bottom just like you/ If you ain’t
from the bottom, no offense, but you are not who I write
to…”
- Amen is a
frequent contributor to LatinRapper.com
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