Small Professor :: Mixed Jawns II :: Bandcamp
as reviewed by Steve 'Flash' Juon
![[Mixed Jawns II]](../coverart/smallpro-Mixed2.jpg)
Small Professor makes albums
for the lovers of hip-hop instrumentals (and the lover in you). That's
a niche audience. It's so much of a niche audience you might ask
"Why isn't he putting those production skills to use making a hot
emcee that much hotter?" The answer is on occasion he DOES just that, but it has to be the right
rapper under the right circumstances. If you're not that hot, Small
Pro has no problem with saving what he's got, and releasing it as
his own album under his own name. He's good enough to know his own
worth (as evidenced by the fact he sets a price on all of his
Bandcamp releases), and dope enough that he can rock your ears
with or without a lyricist to kick the verbals to his herbals.
It may be ballsy to release a
sequel to an album you put out just under a year ago, but Small
Pro has the big cajones to spare. In fact song
titles like "Has was gonna use this jawn, don't know what
happened" reflect his chutzpah. He may be speaking about
Has-Lo he may not,
but whoever he's talking about has just been called out on a
track that doesn't even feature any words - consider yourself
put on notice. The songs themselves make statements, but the
hilariously descriptive titles are the icing on the cake. It's
like the often recycled AMV staple "Crayons Can Melt on Us for
All I Care" by Relient K - a title that aptly summed up the
10 seconds of your life the song "wastes." In that same respect
"My momma prolly hear that and be mortified" is a send-up
of televangelism, with an unnamed preacher blathering on and
on about how sinful "The Wizard of Oz" is for God knows what reason.
One of these days I'll have to sit down with Small Professor and
get the stories behind song titles like "He stole his name from me,
they used to call me cliff the glide back in the day." It seems
self-explanatory at first glance and then makes you stop and ask
more questions: "Who is HE and why did HE steal your
name?" Either way the song is a nice bit of chiptune inspired
retro instrumentalism. "When i walk thru these halls, man this beat
should (be) playin" is apt too - it's a track designed for the
pimp strut a beat maestro of pro's caliber should be doing in
his daily life. The curious songs are the ones that actually
DON'T have verbose titles. "Gene hackman" offers virtually
no explanation, but it's one of the best tracks of "Mixed Jawns II."
I'm at a point in my music reviewing career where more things
land in my inbox than I have either the time or inclination to
listen to, but Small Professor has earned the distinction of
"I always fuck with this dude" because he never fails to entertain
me and make my head nod. It probably doesn't hurt that he puts
nice looking women on the covers either, but SP is good enough
that if he put a steaming pile of poo on one of his "Mixed Jawns"
you'd still want to listen. "Lazarus got ran over by a camel
and now he's dead again" is too long of a title to scroll
comfortably on your MP3 player or heads up display of your
car's stereo system, but so what? Just roll with it, laugh about
it, and enjoy the audio treats (no tricks) Small Pro provides.
Music Vibes: 8 of 10
Lyric Vibes: n/a of 10
TOTAL Vibes: 8 of 10
Originally posted: June 3rd, 2014
source: www.RapReviews.com