The Return of the Magnificent by DJ Jazzy Jeff

May 7, 2007 by theo.johnson
Filed under: Blog Entries, Entertainment & Sports, Music Reviews

Here’s another CD review from Darrell. This is one of his most recent posts on theojohnson.net, so I thought I’d share here. Hope you enjoy.

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As a hip-hop fan, you have to sometime wish that there was some type of Rapper 401(k) or pension plan. There are some of our greatest pioneers out there who did it for the love before there was even money in it. Some even fell by the wayside b/c of convictions, drugs, poor money management, or even just being a one-hit wonder. Thankfully, Jeffrey Townes didn’t fall into that category…even if you didn’t know it. Despite being the lesser known half of the 90′s supergroup “DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince”, Jazzy Jeff has been doing quite well for himself. While Willie has been off becoming a movie icon, Jazz has been the musical force behind icons like Jill Scott and Musiq. He’s also produced for Little Brother, De La Soul, and he even dropped some birds for his boy Will. “The Return of the Magnificent” is Jazzy’s fif album, yo.

Before you dive head first into “Return of the Magnificent” be careful because the pool is kinda shallow. Not so much in content, but in actual quantity. Fact is, there’s only five songs. Oh, but a wise man once said there’s dignity in simplicity. Every track could be a star track but if you need one:

***STAR TRACK*** “Jeff N Fess” featuring Rhymefest Jazz drops a maniacal beat w/ a small James Brown sample, some horns, tuned wood blocks, and his signature scratching. Fess mostly freestyles the whole thing talking about everything from down south rapper love to trying to please NY hip-hop fans to your girl licking him in happy places. This is a really nice track that will keep you nodding to the beat.

The next track is “My Soul’s Not 4 Sale” and it’s a very, laid back beat melts well with Raheem DeVaughn’s passionate voice. Even the most reluctant hip-hop fan can groove to this track since it could almost just as easy fall into the Jazz section at your local media outlet. Jeff makes sure to keep it hip-hop with well-placed scratches and mixes. Raheem wistfully strives to express his reluctance to sellout and not give in to just making moolah at the cost of forsaking the quality of his music. A profound track Betcha didn’t know an R&B artist could do that? He’s gotta have a little rapper in him…probably Bushwick Bill.

Next we find ourselves in familiar territory with a feature from Little Brother. Phonte and Big Pooh combine with Jazz on a track called “Whatever U Want”. It starts off with a “Pharrell-esque” sound minus only the bling-bling sound. Phonte reminds his imaginary female companion to be on her “breasts” behavior. Then Phonte goes Andre 3000 and sings! Pretty good. I doubt he should attempt to change his day job but Jazz does a really good job of matching his tone. The lyrics themselves are aimed at the ladies with a “come to my lair” ambiance. Good, fun, lighthearted track.

Anyone heard from CL Smooth lately? Anyone? You rap hardheads probably have, but most haven’t heard from him since “T.R.O.Y.” That’s pretty thick irony there. But CL has been active and he gets active on “All I Know”. Jazzy incorporates more of the beat machine/synthesizer combination which he heavily uses throughout the album. This time he goes again with the laid back sound while CL drops his vintage, laid back flow. A good track.

The last track “BossyNova” is an instrumental Jazz cooks up that quite flavorful. Bossa nova being a South American style of music that’s intrinsically Brazilian he does a great job of matching it with his synths, background vocals, beats, and scratch machine. It adds a nice shiny glaze to what was already a very mellow album.

Rapper beware! It’s starting to seem that producers are making the best albums these days. If Jazz could’ve stretched this into 10+ tracks, he may’ve had a heavy hitter on his hands. He added really well fit features to his great production. This album was a really enjoyable listen.

I give “The Return of the Magnificent” an A rating. Short, but very sweet.