ARTIST - YOUNG JAWZ
CD - THE SOUTH WEST
LABEL - Prospect Records
RELEASE DATE - MARCH, 2009
SOUNDS LIKE - Too Short, Scarface, Snoop Dog, Will Smith
DEFINING MOMENTS - Where I Been, We Won't Stop, Live Long Smoke Big
STRENGTH - Full Loaded (74 Minutes) of Music, Strong Catalogue, Multiple Collaborations, Impressive Vocal-Rap Delivery Style
WEAKNESS - NONE
KATAVI RATING - 7 out of 7 masks
A few years back when Eminem won a Grammy I overheard someone say “it’s a crazy world we live when the number one golfer in the world is black, and the number one rapper is white.” San Diego based rapper Young Jawz releases his latest CD The South West in May 2009 under Prospect Records. You may recall Young Jawz in the past opening up for rappers such as Ice-T, Too $hort, Lil’ Flip, Crooked I, Glasses Malone, Mistah Fab, San Quinn, and Andre Nickatina. Turns out this the second release for Young Jawz with his debut Jawz of Life released in 2006. However this is the first release under Prospect Records which just so happens to own.
Logging on at just over 74 minutes in length this CD hits hard with a wide variety of smooth rap grooves, hooky rhymes, and well crafted melodies. The rap style reminds me of Too Short, Scarface, Dr.Dre, Snoop Dog, Ice Cube and splash of Will Smith. CD kicks off with “Where I Been” a smooth intro piece that sets things into motion rather nicely with Young Jawz serving up the solid rap backbone with a nice melodic chorus courtesy of Cricket. Track 2: “Classic” gets more serious with its tenacious lyrical delivery, hypnotic bass grooves, and apocalyptic piano. Right from the start Jawz lights it up vocally. He showcases a solid rap baritone, flowing rhymes and lyrics, and a nicely crafted catalogue. The songs themselves are short and sweet, and will hit you like a 1-2 punch, one after the other. Track 3: “How I’m Livin’” features Young Jawz serving it up with back-ups from fellow rappers J-Diggs, and I-Rocc. This California Groove slithers smooth with clever rhymes, addictive grooves and a chorus that is red hot. Young Jawz is very impressive, and I gotta say pretty fly for a white guy. This applies to both his vocals and his look. To be honest I am a bit skeptical when I see a white rapper coming down the pike, but what sealed the deal for me is when I went to his My Space Page. Here you will see Young Jawz is one guy that walks the walk and talks the talk. I’m sorry folks but those mannerisms just don’t lie. Track 7: “Live Long, Smoke Big” features rappers Whorrdie and Big Chunks with a nice keyboard accents, tight drum groove, and a chorus that is a total grand slam. This song is so catchy it will have you singing its amazing chorus long after it’s over.
The strong suit of The South West is the powerful arsenal of rappers Young Jawz brings to the table. Over 10 including Glasses Malone, Lil' Flip, The Game, J-Diggs, I-Rocc, T-Nutty, Cricet, Steve Vicious, Big Chunks, Whoride, and more. But what’s even more impressive is despite all these performances, Young Jaws’ still manages to make this CD all his territory. Make no bones about it, a lot of work went into this production. It possesses a lot of variety, depth, and with 17 tracks to chose from: it’s fully loaded! Some tracks like “She Get It”, “Talkin” and Bangin in the West Coast”, and “Gotta Get It” will hit you in your grill. But there are also more mellower hip hop melodies as well like “She Want’s It”, “Summer Love”, and ”Step to This” . All melodic, hooky and will chill you West Coast style. But I have to say my favorite song on the entire CD is Track 15: “We Won’t Stop”. It has a nice jazzy type piano groove to it, flowing rhythm and in my opinion epitomizes the typical West Coast groove. Unlike other white rappers like Eminem, Young Jawz sounds more black than white. One of the reasons Eminem got so big is because alot of white kids could identify with him. Ultimately I believe Young Jaws appeals to a black fan base. The CD ends with a bonus track “Beatnoxin” a dark, apocalyptic groove, with orchestral overtones, and a more straight forward vocal delivery from Yong Jawz rather than his typical rap. “I can deliver like a punch to the chest.” It’s a TKO!
Like a heavy weight fighter this CD goes the full 12 rounds. Song for song The South West never once lets its guard down. It pretty much has everything. From raw intensify, clever lyrics, to songs that are well crafted and hold the attention span perfectly. As a whole this CD possesses an incredible amount of versatility. It delivers the in your face urban swagger you would expect from a rap CD, and cannot be faked no matter how hard you try. Song for song, pound for pound it’s as an impressive production. At the tender young age of 20 Young Jaws has clearly proven he is a force to be reckoned with. Oh and by the way he produced the CD to. If I could say anything to Young Jawz right now it would be keep working that solid network of yours, and never forget the one thing that separates you from other rappers will be the one thing that puts you on the top one day. Yep it’s a crazy world we live in……….indeed.
My overall rating - 7 out of 7 masks.
Cyrus Rhodes - 5/13/09
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