When you think about the cannon of classic rap albums, there are certain entries which are pretty much no brainers. Albums like Illmatic, Stillmatic, Blueprint, The Chronic, Bacdafucup and Aquemni are pretty much on most peoples list, because they broke ground; presenting us as listeners with a new way to listen to and enjoy hip-hop.
The canonization of hip-hop albums, unfortunately, turns many fans and critics into fraudulent cultural gatekeepers: controlling what is consider classic, and what is disregarded and lost in the annuls of history. Many albums that actually push boundaries and explore new and innovative musical, for whatever reason, have been dismissed and mostly lost in time. Due to this canonization, and to the fact that saying your cell phone number over and over again is just plain silly, Mike Jones' debut album Who is Mike Jones is considered just another gimmicky rap album. I disagree with this popular contention, and would even go as far as to argue that while certainly not the greatest album of all time, Who is Mike Jones is a classic hip hop album.
A classic album sets trends; its lets its contemporaries know: this is the way you are going to do things from now on. In many ways Who is Mike Jones did just that. Jones' in-your-face marketing ploy of screaming his phone number served as a precursor to the current era of viral-marketing (a la YouTube, Twitter and Blogging) that we are in today. The album's reliance on slowing down the beat and lyrics (known as screwing and chopping the track) literally slowed down music, across all genres. Everyone from Jay-Z, Beyonce and even Fergie dropped songs that were heavily rooted in Houston's syrupy slow sound. And the cameos on the album made overnight celebrities out of relative unknowns like Slim Thug, Paul Wall and Lil' Keke.
The first single "Still Tippin" (f/ Paul Wall and Slim Thug), showcased to the world what Houston had to offer to the music world. Subsequent singles 'Flossin' and 'Back Them' were a combination of simple production, and catchy radio ready hooks. Dig deeper than the singles and you would find engaging, if not shallow, album cuts like 'Turning Lane', 'What you know about...', and 'Got it Sewed Up'. Looking back, it was a pretty solid package.
I know you're pretty disgusted right now, you can't believe I just spent three paragraphs singing the praises of Mike Jones. I'll be the first to admit, the album is not perfect; lyrically, it left much to be desired. Despite Mike's somewhat non-sensical subject matter, the beats, the overall production value of the record, and its phenomenal screwed and chopped version, produced by the brilliant Michel Watts, were superb.
Mike Jones Who is Mike Jones is definitely a classic album because it added a slowed down knuckleball to hip-hop's every growing arsenal. Make sure you give it a listen if you've never heard it before, or bump it for old times sake.
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