a rich, attention-grabbing debut
5
By Lyfe Of Fred
If you’re a rap fan, in the Jersey shore region at some point this year, someone is going to recommend that you listen to lil J Wop, a 17-year-old from Jackson New Jersey who raps with a gravity beyond his years. His music is boldly personal, and he’s a technically precise, adaptive vocalist. He can hit complicated patterns, pack color into his writing, and harmonize more effectively than artists with decades of experience.
His debut album, Destiny folds all his influences into a world that is specific and engrossing. But there’s more than that: J Wop’ debut serves as a unique coming-of-age story, one that should resonate on both sides of the Coasts.
The production on Destiny pulls from the source material of the new school of hip-hop. but J Wop himself is firmly rooted in hip-hop. J Wop has cited Kanye as a major influence, and on “Know My Name” he channels mid-period Cam’Ron. Songs like “Foreign”, Pronto, all embodies the skills and strength of this young man.
This is very much a post-Stormzy, post-Skepta, post-Drake-going-roadman album, and an important stepping stone along the path to the Jersey Shore establishing itself as a bona fide world-beater at producers and rhymes.
With his attention-grabbing skills and knack for sculpting hooks, J Wop could crack with a single feature on some hot rapper’s hit track.
