Who Is Mike Jones (Parental Advisory) [PA] - Mike Jones

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Mediocre
Quality and consistency of tracks	Mixed
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	Big hits
Disadvantages:	Repetitive

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Mike Jones is a Houston-based rapper. He specializes in this the H-town style of rap which also involves 'Screwed and Chopped' in this style, the music is cut and jerked about, or at least it sounds like this to create an original sound. This style slows down the tracks and this album was brought out later with a second disc using the same tracks that are screwed and chopped. Many who do not listen to this music will think that the music has some digital glitches in them, but this is the effect that they are trying to create.

"Who is Mike Jones?" is the debut solo album from this album. He chose to give it this title due to his name being so regular, its very common in America. This album was recored in 2004, but it wasn't until late in 2005 when it was released by Swishahouse. Jones' Swishahouse label mates feature on this album, the most famous of which Paul Wall and Slim Thug, can be found on "Still Tippin'", his debut single. Bun B, of UGK and some of Three 6 Mafia are also included on this album. These definitely make an impact on the LP as it shows that as they are all from the Southern states in America, they are displaying a united front of the Dirty South.

Mike Jones' gimmick when attempting to get into the limelight was to give out tees with his phone number '281-330-8004' on the the back of them. This was a promotional stunt which has continued on to his later work. For this reason, I believe that this my still be his number so if you would like to call him, find out the zip-code in Houston first.

Mike Jones himself did some of the production for the album, however most the work this side of the music was covered by Salih Williams, sears and Michael 5000 Watts. Much of these sounds are original to the Dirty South, because Southern rap is so diverse. The style is Houston, opposed to Atlanta and Miami, is similar to Memphis in that it is slow tempoed. I feel that screwed and chopped is preferred in this area, but in order to reach a wider audience, the beats have to be a little more universal. I believe that he has done this, because previous to hearing of Mike Jones, I had never come across any of the Houston rap.

1. Intro

2. Back Then

**Five Stars**

This one is one of my favourites. The title is "back then thy didn't want me, now I'm hot, they're all on me." This refers to this journey to stardom, beginning without being able to get women now it isn't a challenge at all. It seems that he isn't bothered that they are only interested because of his money, because of the way he performs the track. Then again its not as if you would care, because now he has all the female attention he desires.

He also makes it clear that it isn't due to any outside alterations that the amount of women he sees has gone up as he tells us he's the same size now as he was when he began, and he is quite stocky in build.

This one is very slow and it is a clear indication that he is able to relax in his life now. The music speaks for him as now he feels he has done all the hard work of breaking through to a wider audience, now the rest will just come to him.

3. Flossin' (feat. Big Moe)

**Four Stars**

This one is suited more to the clubs. It is a track in high spirits and it shows that he is appreciating all that he has accomplished to this point; he has been able to splurge on whatever he desires.

This song was bound to come out surrounding this topic, because all young rappers enjoy the feeling of getting to a state where thaey have money, with it they can do whatever they want.

This track is fits the summertime as it is up-beat and the atmosphere that it creates makes you think of a holiday atmosphere, with no worries or troubles on your mind.

4. Still Tippin' (feat. Paul Wall & Slim Thug)

**Five Stars**

This track is one of my favourite ones, from him the main reason for this is because the genre was new to me when I heard it. This originality lead me to listen to more of his music as it was something new to experiment with.

The song is quite slow and shows the attitude of Houston is extremely laid-back, they are not interested in following the current trends in rap, of speeding it up so that it gains lots of air-play. I liked how this was done, because with his Texas twang, the fast-tempo songs just don't suit this accent. He has obviously taken this into consideration. possibly the style was experimented with for a while. As much of the Houston rap is slow, and they will all have been exposed to the same way of speaking, the pioneers of Houston rap will have worked this out a while ago and now the popular trend has continued to this generation.

This was his debut and the video for it really opened my eyes to what 'the ghetto' is like in modern society, because most of that stereotypical New York projects life has passed. In Houston 'the ghetto' is just an extremely poverty-stricken area in, (in America). Its amazing that he was able to do the broke-to-bling transformation coming from the place he came from. The video was full of young black men just enjoying what they have in life and what makes them feel happy, Mike Jones didn't care about showing us all his famous friends in the original video because he wanted to show us the real Houston first.

5. Got It Sewed Up (Remix)

**Five Stars**

This one was produced by Juicy J and DJ Paul of Three 6 Mafia. Its full of bass and has obviously taken and it has taken a lot of influence from the Crunk form of Southern rap. Its a lot like other releases from the group, in terms of the beat.

Jones raps about how he has the rap game sewed up. I think that it was quite early in his career to claim that he has filled in a gap in the genre, however, I'd say that this is pretty fair because he is very original in terms of his style.

If you have heard Pimp C's "Pourin' Up", a song Mike Jones features in, this has a lot of similarities to this. It is one of the best tracks from the album and you can hear that some parts of it seem empty, so he repeats lines, this isn't really for this version, its main purpose is to improve the screwed and chopped variation.

6. Scandalous Hoes (feat. Lil' Bran)

**Three Stars**

This one has a different tone to the other songs on the album, this one is about women but in a different way as its a love song style, but the content is far from this.

I don't see how this one fits into a screwed and chopped style, because its more R&B-orientated. This music form shouldn't be altered with as they are all about the singing quality of the singers and not just rapping, which is a skill, but is very different to it.

Mike Jones tells us how he has been warned since he was young about women and how they can front when they are with men, these precautions have lead him to watch out for the type that are likely to do things they shouldn't be.

Personally, I didn't but this album in order to listen to R&B, I was hoping for pure Houston rap. I understand that little breaks are required so that the listener doesn't get bored by the music being too similar throughout, but I was hoping that the tracks that are different would be more like Jones' other work.

7. Screw Dat

**Three Stars**

This one refers directly to the Dirty South style which I have mentioned in this review several times already, so I think you know what it is by now. This one is a pretty basic track from Mike Jones, any rapper from his end of USA could have come up with this in my opinion.

Mike reps his ends of H-Town in this track, you have to do this when you are an underground rapper, to establish your position in the game. I feel that this is quite amateur-ish of him, even though its his debut album, his has obviously come a long way so to bring out a mediocre tune just doesn't cut it for me.

The signature slowed-down vocals sound is used in this track quite often. At the time it as a new element in rap, it has spiraled since then, finding its way into music from other rappers, MCs, such as Kanye West and R&B singers, as Fergie in "Glamorous".

8. Turning Lane

***Three Stars**

Although I am still enjoying the sound of this album, I really do find it annoying that he repeats so much and I'm sure that many would terrorize him for doing this, because he uses rhymes from tracks, such as "Back Then" to fill up time on the record. So many lines are said far too much, especially when he says his phone number and just adapts it to fit the beat of a different track.

The repetition continues in this one as all he does is list off all the things which he does "In the turning lane", so if you do pick this album up, you will here him sate an activity, then the hook will say "in the turning lane". It really isn't showing off his abilities of rhyming which I know he posses. Despite this I still like the track a lot, and i know it's hard to understand, but I really like the production for Southern Hip Hop.

9. Laws Patrolling (feat. CJ, King Mellow & Lil' Bran)

**Three Stars**

This sounds like a Chamillionaire-esque tune, probably because they with both have been exposed to similar music whilst growing up in the same city of Houston, Texas. I think that this ideas comes from the way the chorus is sung instead of rapped by a voice which sounds untrained and probably that of a rapper, but it's not clarified.

I am not familiar with any of the three other artist who accompany Jones with the lyrics, but I must say that were decent here, nothing special though, so I think that they are up-and-comers who we may see more of in the future. This track was like that too, just OK. They speak about how people still get up to a lot of trouble even with the police about, so their prescene is having little effect in the areas which experience the mos crime.

10. Five Years From Now (feat. Lil' Bran)

**Two Stars**

The title pretty much explains this track and I have little to explain as he just wonders what his life will be like in the future. He doesn't give any set plans or goals so it's all just a list of random events which could occur in this time. It may cause you to think in the same way, but it had little effect on myself.

11. Cuttin' (Remix)

**Three Stars**

I cannot comment on it in comparison to the original recording, as I haven't heard it before, but this is what the remix is like anyway. This isn't a very memorable track on the album, but I did like it quite a lot. It is a fairly slow-paced record which is a typical example of Mike Jones' work.

Mike Jones basically promotes himself during this tune and brags about himself, something he tends to do quite a lot. He uses effective complex rhyme schemes during this track and alters his syllable patterns well to show that he is very unpredictable and able to catch us off-guard when he alters his usually predictable lines. The production is strong for this track as Salih Williams makes full use of the beat by providing effective scratches to complete it.

12. What Ya Know About (feat. Paul Wall & Killa Kyleon)

**Three Stars**

This is a decent track which features my favourite white rapper in th world, Pall Wall, and a member of Slim Thug's Boss Hogg Outlawz, Killa Kyleon, who are two of the finest talents from out of the city, so it was good to see them showing love for Mike Jones by performing alongside him on this track.

We are basically told through this one that we have no idea what it is like to do things which he is able to do on a regular basis because his income has grown so much that he is able to splurge on expensive whips on such. There is a lot of this in his rhymes anyway, so I didn't feel that he has to make a whole on just about this.

13. Know What I'm Sayin' (feat. Big Bun & Lil' Keke)

**Four Stars**

This is a fun track which I expect not everyone will enjoy, but I respect Salih Williams and Mike Jones for coming together on a hook which many would hate as you here a dopey voice say "Know What I'm Sayin'" after each alternate line, the "Know what I'm talkin' 'bout' on the next one. I quite like it and I thought it was different to what we are usually exposed to.

I wouldn't think that Bun B would be the type to like this, seeing how trill he is, but he jumped on this beat along with Lil' Keke, increasing the power of Texas on Jones' debut album. Bun b doesn't really seem to fit in to well because he is a lot more hardcore in his rhymes than the bubbling beat, but it was still a good listen.

14. Type Of N**** U Need (feat. Brighteyes)

**Four Stars**

Mike Jones does one for the ladies at last, because you have to in order to get as popular as possible in as little time as possible., and it was an unexpectedly effective one from him, so I'd like to see more like this, in a more R&B style, but with raps.

Mike takes over easily on this beat and he comes with some original words to flatter the words and explain how he will change their life if they go along with him. Also he doesn't repeat any of his lines, unlike how he did for every other track on the album so far.

15. Grandma

**Three Stars**

For the first half of this I wasn't focussed enough to care about this track, because it has not relevance to me, it will only mean something to the people associated with his grandma, but as he comes to the end of the tune (and the album), he explains that it was his grandma who formed the Mike Jones we see now.

Still you may think that this isn't anything which we should care about but then he goes into more detail and says that she came up with all his founding ideas such as the catchphrase "Who? Mike JONES!", giving out his mobile number and using the name which was given to him at birth, so it does give you quite a lot of information on the artist than you would expect it to.

In conclusion, this is a decent album by Mike Jones and there is a lot to like about the music on here, I would recommend this to nyone who is into Houston Hip Hop or Dirty South as a larger sub-genre, but those who are into lyrical rap should stay away because you are likely to become annoyed by his repetition of entire lines including one which I shouldn't be ale to spit off by heart without thinking:

"218-330-8004, hit Mike Jones up on the low, cuz Mike Jones about to blow."

Things like this ill put you off a lot because his rhymes are very predicable after hearing the first two hits ("Back Then" and "Still Tippin'" apart from this you there isn't much else which comes from the album. Don't complain if some of the comments and rating don't match, because sometimes I can't explain why I like it, it's just the effect Mike Jones has when he rhymes.

I shouldn't like this because of all of the things which let it down, but I do, quite a lot and I want to hear more, because I know that his later tracks and those to be found on his forthcoming album "Voice Of The Streets" is less like this.