Being affiliated with Dipset is not a lucrative position as it once was. The once street savvy camp has become fractured, with the heads of the camps beefing and some soldiers taking sides. With all the drama, the camp has made more noise on rumor pages and editorials than musically.
Given that turmoil, Politics & Bullsh*t (BabyGrande) may just be an apt title from J.R. Writer. The long affiliated Dipset protégé has been quiet during the majority of the beef, and it seems he was in the studio instead of clamoring for the spotlight in front of cameras. However, as apt as the title may be, this album that cannot break the wall of mediocrity.
When Politics & Bullsh*t starts with “It’s Like A Jungle,” he states “whether you copped the CD from a bootlegger or just straight up downloaded it, it doesn’t make a difference, its still crack.” It starts going in that Dipset mode where he stuffs it with punch lines behind a hook resembling The Furious Five’s classic “The Message.” Behind the simple production, this plays off like a good sample of the “crack” promised.
“Dimelo” features J.R Writer behind looping horns and a jumping snare. It features Writer working off a Salsa like beat much like a dancer. It works well as an up-tempo selection. “Uptown Girl” takes it back to the old school Dipset sound, with a chopped up sample. It rides well, much like “We Ride or Die,” which has Writer going in behind the same chopped up sample sound. It may be the best song on the disc, but it comes up short clocking in at shortly over 2 minutes.
The album unfortunately suffers from a serious case of songs running together. Many of the tracks feel like they could be mixed and matched on different beats from the album and not you wouldn’t even noticed.
Whenever the only other featured artist, his brother Fred Money hops on a track, he tends to outshine J.R Writer. This is especially apparent with the album closing “Hands Up,” where his different scheme comes as a great change of pace. This may be because of timing, as Writer’s flow gets tiring even with the lack of length.
This album fails in the same way of much of J.R Writers other albums do. It comes off as too much of a mixtape, and takes the same liberty with track selection, length, and theme, even having a freestyle on the track listing (over Camron’s “Come Home With Me”).
There was an opportunity to rep the eagle right and remind people why a Dipset album was worth purchasing besides the beef, but this album, much like Writer, cannot break through.
JR Writer
“Hate On Me”
JR Writer
“Come Home With Me (Freestyle)”
Come With Me (Freestyle) – J.R. Writer
