The Badger Herald

ARTSETC.

Jean Grae slips on path to rap stardom

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Also by Meredith Dietrich:

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Haunting vocals on musician's newest (November 3, 2005)
Guster's lead guitarist releases religious disc (November 8, 2005)
'Veener' contemplative, sad (November 15, 2005)
Rob Thomas strikes a chord (August 8, 2005)

by Meredith Dietrich

Monday, September 27, 2004

Some rap is revered as poetic and brilliant in beats, and some rap sounds like all other rap songs, such as is the case with Jean Grae’s new album This Week. Grae has shown promise as a rising rap star, but on This Week her lyrics are weak and her beats repetitive.

Born in South Africa, music was always a fundamental part of Grae’s life as her father and mother were both jazz artists. She moved to New York City after being accepted to Alvin Alley, a prominent modern dance company.

Living in New York City she met a lot of people from the underground hip-hop scene and she began to form her own identity among them.

Grae’s first musical venture was Natural Resource, a band she started with friends in 1999. Together they released a 12-inch LP that turned a lot of heads in the underground scene.

After one success the Natural Resource disbanded and Grae was free to work on her own music. She made many appearances on others albums, which led to people calling her the “Cameo Queen.”

In early 2003, Grae made her first solo album Attack of the Attacking Things. Later that year, she made another EP, The Bootleg of the Bootleg EP. The attention from Bootleg led the Roots to ask Grae to join their “OkayPlayer” tour and the band as a permanent member.

While joining the Roots was on hold, she was in the studio working on her second full-length album called This Week, just recently released. On this album, Grae shows potential to be a great rap artist with her impressive rhythm, but her lyrics fall short of her talent and the beats seem to repeat from one track to another.

The album becomes increasingly disjointed from sound-bits piped in during tracks, such as a woman running, obviously scared and crying, or another women screaming at the end of another track.

The track “Not Like Me” opens with a woman crooning in a nice airy voice and a little introduction made by Grae. Soon she just starts singing “Its not likely/and anyway you’re gonna not like me/and its not easy/just to come across a girl like Jean.”

As she begins to rap, she talks about what she wants in a man, that “hood rats” can’t make it. The beats in the background are full of bass and simple, repeating over and over, throughout the chorus and when she raps. She seems to force her rhythm on the beats as though she is trying to say too many things at once.

In the song “Before the Spot Skit” the track opens with a beat and people talking about a cashed bowl, how bad it was, and Jean Grae cursing at what seems to be a bouncer. The whole track is just Grae talking to a friend, blatantly a man who is pretending to speak in a woman’s voice, and telling the friend to “Shut up” because “she” is drunk. This track leads into the next called “You Don’t Want It.”

It seems that Grae uses the same synthesizer-type beat in all of her songs, the same tempo in all of her songs, along with same bass-filled beat. What she is talking about is seemingly ambiguous, about what she wants to do and what she wants from the listener, which is unclear.

In a chorus she chimes, singing decently, “Everybody get your hands up/and if you’re ready to rumble with Jean stand up.” Maybe Grae should focus on singing and add some more instruments instead of the rap game.

The album sounds repetitive and without substance. Grae’s lyrics need fine tuning, as though she wrote them and decided right then that they were good enough.

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Anonymous (September 27, 2004 @ 11:41am):

not to be an ass or anything, but "before the spot skit" is probably a skit, not a song. 90% of all hip hop albums have skits, short breaks between songs that are often humorous little situations that don't include any music.

have you ever listened to a hip hop album before?

oh and jean grae is not a "permanent member" of the roots, at least not to my knowledge.

i'm no huge jean grae fan, but i know that her work is a hell of a lot more layered and complex than this review gives it credit for. usually, when i hear a reviewer saying "it sounds like all other hip hop, same beats, i don't get what she's saying" etc., it means that the reviewer isn't really knowledgable about the genre to begin with and probably shouldn't be writing about it.

no offense to the writer; this is really an issue with the herald as an entity. it's nice that y'all give some shine to jean, but it's too bad that the review is so simplistic and clueless.

Anonymous (September 28, 2004 @ 12:35am):

A weak review by a "writer" who obviously has no clue what she's talking about. The last paragraph could be applied to this "review."

Anonymous (September 28, 2004 @ 12:35am):

This review is horribly written and full of factual inaccuracies. Wow.

Anonymous (September 28, 2004 @ 1:30am):

Wow. I'm reading the first paragraph again, and I'm really quite speachless. I think this review has been criticized enough, so I'll just agree with the other comments.

Anonymous (September 28, 2004 @ 2:58am):

seems like you don't listen to much hiphop, to be honest.

Anonymous (September 28, 2004 @ 7:49am):

Being one who observes what is being observed in this review is the lack of an more definitive approach. Her lyrics lack that luster that appeals to your aesthetic of what hiphop is.
When the overall aesthetic of hiphop is far more greater.
As well you claim that her music is repetative e. What music, especially in hiphop, is not repetative?
I hear a lot basic selfish idealology when it comes to this review. When the over all of this review just seem like some selfish ploy to achieve some artistic credential. Define or compare what Jean music must achieve beforejust labeling lyrics weak. Um no journalist should already be bias before writing and it was obvious that you made your mind up about her album before writing it.

Anonymous (September 28, 2004 @ 10:07am):

This review is atrocious the insight of the reviewer is very limited. You can tell shes not a big fan of hip hop nor does she have much knowledge of the genre. If she thinks all the beats sound the same she must be half deaf... the beats are almost all different to the ear. Jean Grae is not my favorite femcee especially with her offkilter flow but the album is solid.

Anonymous (September 28, 2004 @ 11:45pm):

Natural Resource was not formed in 1999 nor were they a 'band', nor is Jean a member of The Roots. The writer needs to research a lot better than this(if she did at all) if she ever plans to be taken seriously. This review was horribly written and horribly researched by a person who knows absolutely nothing about hip-hop.

Anonymous (September 29, 2004 @ 5:22am):

very poor review, the writer obviously lacks any knowledge of the genre. criticisms are backed up by vague statements, such as
"The beats in the background are full of bass and simple, repeating over and over, throughout the chorus and when she raps"
oh, right, thats called a loop, which is generally that basis for most if not all rap songs,no? oh yes, and that part when she raps, well you know thats called a ... verse!
you obviously have no editorial command of the basics of music criticism if you allowed this substandard piece of writing to be published, and henceforth i will in future refrain from visiting your site.
good day.

Anonymous (September 29, 2004 @ 9:04am):

"The beats in the background are full of bass and simple, repeating over and over, throughout the chorus and when she raps. She seems to force her rhythm on the beats as though she is trying to say too many things at once."

Listen to hip hop much? Anyone can write a review here? This writer's ignorance is quite apparent.

Anonymous (October 1, 2004 @ 2:38pm):

As an artists known to respond to quite a few reviews, it was only fitting that I had to join in about this one.
I'm not against anyone having their personal opinions of my music, however, this has done more than miss the point.

Where did you attain your facts? It seems like you skimmed over the biography and pieced together a life that didn't exists. I did NOT move to New York after being accepted by Alvin Ailey. I moved to New York when I was THREE MONTHS OLD. No where in the bio does it state what you compiled as facts.
There are so many things wrong with your writing before I even get to the album, I'm just going to skim along(as you apparently did) and fact correct some of them.
Natural Resource formed in 1995. I had not joined them yet. I joined in 1996. It was not my first release.
We had more than one success.
Attack was released in 2002.
Bootleg was 2003.
I am not a member of The Roots, so its impossible for that option to ever be "on hold.'

Im sighing while I'm writing this.

It isn't disjointed. It follows a WEEK in the life.
If you haven't caught on to the blaring "SUNDAY" or "TUESDAY", I don't know what to tell you.

The running leads out of a SKIT(we will talk about those later) in which I am asleep(note the SNORING)into a dream.

As far as the screaming, I have no idea what you are referencing. Could it be the waking up out of the dream after the alarm clock for the next day goes off? I never knew that the sound I made was considered a scream.
Moving on.
"Not Like Me" opens with a woman "crooning", seperate from myself? No, it's ME on the vocals. I don't know whether to address the word "crooning" or not, but I will leave it untouched as there are many more important issues to attend to here.
I said the phrase 'hoodrat" ONCE, cripes.
"These hoodrats be making in the game, plus the ain't even fully developed, I'm saying."
Ahhh, then you missed the entire point of the song. It's not what I WANT in a man...(sigh again) it's how I present myself as a woman. Some things that I think are blatantly clear, I swear.....

I don't know if I'm even going to get into the repetitive music that seems to bother you. I think everyone here has handled that well. No, you don't listen to rap music a lot, do you?

I really love that you ended the quotations for "Before The Spot" skit after the word SKIT. That kind of explains a little more to me.
I really would LOVE to know what a CASHED BOWL is. If anyone does, please enlighten me at once. I've been saying it for the past two days, trying to slip it into conversation.
'Hey, did you go to that Cashed Bowl last night? How was it?"
"I can't go, I told a couple friends I would meet them at the Cashed Bowl party"

They just look at me funny.
Also, is it BLATANTLY A MAN'S VOICE????
That was almost the best part to read, because you seem so convinced an sure of yourself.
Unless I am a man....since I did the voice....you would be off the mark yet again.
Blatantly off the mark.

Are you really serious about the 'synthesizer beats"?????????
I don't even know how to get into talking about that. Just curious as what you would refer to as a "synthesizer".
Do you mean Triton, Motif-that sort of thing?
Or am I shooting way too far over your head and you mean more of a- "those kooky kids and there sythesized music".
Not sure.
But If you are telling me for a second that "P.S" sounds like "You Don't Want It" which sounds like "Supaluv", then good God, you need assistance.
Is it truly unclear what I'm saying? Is it Meredith?
Could you not grasp the idea of me writing emails to people I felt I had wronged in "P.S." after staing in the beginning of the song "I JUST WANT TO SEND A FEW EMAILS OUT".... couldn't pick up on the hidden meaning behind that one?

I don't like the idea of being a sarcastic to you Meredith. I truly don't. I DO think that someone could have at least said "Hey Meredith, did you do your fact checking on that Jean Grae bit"?
Or someone had at least said, "hey this isn''t correct ".
I don't believe that you are a huge fan of hip-hop, just due to the way you address or label certain aspects of the music that are STAPLES in the genre.
On that note, I really think that you guys might have assigned someone to write the hip-hop review, who actually was a fan of the genre and familiar with it.
That's my 10 cents on me.
Thanks for everyone writing in.
Once again, if you didn't like it, that's cool. I would understand.
At least know what you're talking about.

Jean Grae