BNM Critique: Jesse Jagz’s “Jag of All Tradez”
Posted on Monday, July 12th, 2010 at 2:31 PMBy Adeyinka Yusuff
He co-produced his brother(M.I)’s critically-acclaimed album, “Talk About It” and in the time after that laced a couple of singles with dope verses. Naturally, expectations were high towards as far as Jesse Jagz‘s music was concerned.
Before now, he had released a few singles namely, “Sugar Cane Baby”, “Bend Down Low”, “Pump It up” and “Wetin Dey”. Each of these songs were different from one another and had therefore set the tone for what to expect from the album.
Frankly, a lot has been said of the album: Jag of All Tradez. From questions being raised about Quality Control Measures and the mastering of the album – (which was corrected anyway) to seeming haphazard nature of the compilation of the songs that made the album.
There were expectations that Jesse would go all hard-core on the album, something in line with his verses on “Blaze”, “Choc boys” and “Overkilling remix”. So it was a surprise of sorts when by all indications he decided to go experimental, hence tagging album Jagz of all tradez.
The album kicked off with “Take over” where Jesse Jagz declares it’s his time to take over. He talked about how M.I was the lightening and he was the thunder. Third member of Chocolate City, Ice Prince also rendered his tell-all tale, practically over-shadowing Jesse Jagz’s on the track. “Pump it up” is directed at the clubs, just like “Wetin Dey”, “Shorty” and “Pussy Cat” with their Pop-centric beats. There was a Juju and Afro fusion on “Sugarcane Baby” while “Number One” had a reggaeton/90s throw back feel to it.
“This Jagged life” which seemed like a personal diary of Jesse Jagz opened up a new way to look at the artiste. The passion of the delivery made the song look like the words were from more than just a creative pen. The nostalgic feel that the disco beat added to it made it even more of a good listen. It would have been even more of a killer if Lindsey (another yet-to-be unveiled member of M.I Loopy Crew) had been given a whole verse.
On “Greatest”, Jesse spits rap bars, doing same on “Jesse Swag”, “Chocolate” which featured Muna, “Inhale out”, and “Bend down low”. Without warning, Jesse Jagz just switches flow from track to track, throughout the album. He may be singing on “Love U”, the R&B track featuring Brymo only to change his sound by mixing Hindi with Hausa on “Jargo”.
On JoAT, production is top notch. His attention to detail is amazing (try listening to the album on Bang & Olufsen speakers), laying credence to the fact that Jesse Jagz is an outstanding producer. He produced the album all by himself, a gamble that paid off anyway. He’s the only one that can pull off such a stunt thought unless of course you are Dr. Dre. JoAT was woven to have that mainstream feel, even earlier singles, “Sugar Cane baby” and “Bend down low” were reworked in that direction.
In conclusion for a debut effort, Jag of all Tradez is a good album. Even though we expected a whole lot more from Jagz, he didn’t fall too far short. And we expect, that valuable lessons have been learnt from the shortfalls of this album.
BNM Score: 5/10
Tags: Chocolate City, Jesse Jagz, M.I
5/10? Chei!
Kai!na wa o.ds album deserves more dan a 5.ds person is jt used 2 sm particular kinda album.ds guy tryd a lot of stf on d album dts y he cm up wt dat name 4 his album.*he is so fly dat his name rhymes wt swagger.*wink wink*
This is rubbish…this album was the shit!!! in the end critics are human beings woth their own opinion. you rate it 5/10 i rate it 9/10…i guess only people that appreciate a true artist would appreciate this album. and jargo was da bomb!!! one mans meat……deuces!!
I personally would give it and 8/10, great album I guess a lot of people expected
an MI type album, hence the disappointment.
As in?!!! lol!
i disagree, I would give it an 8! I love all the tracks, the beats and the flow from one track to the other as it tells a story! Hes not as good as M.I yes but hes not far off! I love it!
an album with 4 or 5? hit singles already cannot be rated at 5.
when did this site start critiquing anyway?
lousy job. lazy too.
great production. great album. breath of fresh air amongst sameish
production style pervasive in naija.
and i like the cover too. great album!
That’s kind of harsh… The album deserves about a 7/10
5/10? common!
I love this album! Compared to alot of the garbage on the Nigerian scene, This is a REALLY GOOD ALBUM! crtics are exactly that..CRITICS! smh…
Jibola L or whatever your name is…..what are you talking about?
This album was fantastic….beats all expectations which is good because sometimes, expectations are limitations…..you’ve obviously been listening to some stereotype music, thats why you cant tell something different.
I give it an 8…period!
If you give this album 5/10,what will you give trashy Terry G’s album? 2/10? I love Sugar Cane bay the most…and the album title is pretty creative..
jagz of all trades was simply jargo’s idea of sellin himself better as a producer dan an artiste…now evry kinda artiste cn walk up to jargo for all kind of beat…..d boi is smart,played around with sumtin fr evrybody….pop…..raggea,hiphop,highlife…jst watch soundcity for 5hrs and see ow many collabo and beat credit he has to his name now……..tho singing mo’ dan rappin i will giv it 7/10…..Jargo jargo jargo…jargo..lol
5/10 accurate rating. the album is average. No track is heading’ 4 a Grammy.
Sinzu said Jesse Jagz is wack. I think he’s versatile but what is pussy cat, Jargo & sum of those shit. Our artistes need to be meaningful. His 2nd album will definitely be better.
Haba! This album deserves like a 9.5 yo! A lot of thought went into it. U obviously did not listen to it thoroughly or with an open mind. U said it yourself; he produced all the songs himself and he did so flawlessly. His rapping was meticulous, precise. He is a musical genius and deserves more than an average rating. I think you need to scrap this review and do it afresh-or better yet, hand it over to someone else who is gifted with musicality to review the album.
Yup! I agree wit Chipii. Even a deaf man wud listen to this album and appreciate. Its lyk u hav no Musical Bone in ur body. Jesse is a lyrical genius, his beats r sick, his flows and concepts r wicked. Like he said, “he stands in front of advocado trees so his ahead of his peers” gettit? Anyways, those of us who hav musical bones knw wat a solid album this is. Off with ur head Hater!!!!!.
Koboko tha Bulala. Off wit ur “Un Musical” HEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love the album. If I don’t like the album, you don’t know good music.
Bella naija should be ashamed of putting such a biased review on their pages
how can you say that an album thats been nominated for several awards in the past threemonths , performances and concerts in naija, UK and beyond is a 5…ok name any album this year thats better than the JOAT? i think its just bad belle , pull down this page , you guys are trying to destroy the guys reputation
N I dont like to compare as Mi & Jagz r brothers but u’re wrong about MI being better. he may be the better rapper but J.Jagz iz undoubtedly the more gifted musician. MI CANNOT touch Jesse’s musicality. We should start a petition to get this review reviewed cause d tin dey pain me no be small!!!! I listen to this album all day errrrrr day. N wen its not playing, it’s playing on the jukebox in my head.
when did this site start reviewing albums & why dis one?
5/10? u clearly don’t know what you are talking about…
next time, do a review with an open mind please…
Jesse Jagz is a genius! well am waiting to see the next album to be reviewed..
I think the album is nice. The 5 songs I’ve heard so far are beautiful I’m in love with the groove in Jesse Jagz music. Love U and Jargo take it for me. I think it’s a brilliant attempt for a debut album. Jagz all the way!
when did this site start reviewing albums & why dis one?
5/10? u clearly don’t know what you are talking about…
next time, do a review with an open mind please…
Jesse Jagz is a genius! well am waiting to see the next album to be reviewed..
you Nigerians need to shut up. Jesse Jagz is just okay. duh. stop celebrating mediocrity. if he is 7/10 then what is sauce kid? mode nine? those ones are 7/10. m.i., 8/10.
Jesse is average. He is not a genius. If he is a genius, what are global greats like jay z and nas
you need to escape this your myopic bubble.
compared to top rappers in the world, he is 5, in fact 4/10. very childish rapper.
I give it to him that he is a producer with much talent and potential. he should focus on that like don jazzy.
I’m not soo much of a rap prsn, but smehw i found mre than a track i loved….. If not for anything, fr even producing all his tracks he deserves mre than a 7. He is creative,artistic and vry musical. I’ll gve him a 9/10
i hope this is not one of those attempts to ridicule a hard working artiste as most
notable Nigerian sites and media do?bellanaija you guys i feel are not BIAS in any
way so on that note i feel J.O.A.T deserves a credible remark,to me this
is what is called a successful delivery both lyrically and production wise.
Jesse Jagz is a great artiste,a maestro so to say as compared to most
of the “1 hit wonder” artiste out there…just saying!!!
the album is perfect just like he said MI lightening Jagz Thunder it’s a 10 for me if you ain’t cool with it go have intercourse with yourself
who’s this clown doin the review anyways? where was he when the lyks of idrees abdul-rifraf were prancing all over the place givin hip-hop and naija itself a bad name? i always say critcs are ppl who wish they cld but can’t, so they hate on those who can! i’m yet to see a Choc-boy do bad!
I think thie review is pathethic and the reviewer is does not have a good ear for music.
Jesse jagz is a breath of fresh air in the Nigerian music scene, I can assure u that a year
From now, bellla naija will eat these words
i will like y’all to give it up to J-Jags couse it aint easy to put up a great ish album like his. Jag and his bro MI,to me, there aint no body that understands music more. so i’ll give the album an “8″
Stop using a kelly hansome mentality to judge good music
@ please, you clearly don’t know what you are talking about…
you are comparing saucekid to jagz? saucekid?
mind u a review or critique is not a comparison between two or more people…
jagz is a childish rapper? i sense beef or rather bad belle…
I wud only accept dis review if it was comin from Jayz or lilwayne.
For an album that is enjoyin massive airwave play,dis is a really good album.
If u in all ur ‘glory’ and ‘knowledge’,If u rate dis a 5, wat do u rate a really good album.
Yusuf,ur review is a deneanin lie frm hellz pit,d above comments show
U have biff for jesse. I hope u can do beta…
well i hope you read the people’s comments to your shit review…..a 5?….nah…do you even have a copy of the album…tell you what Mr Reviewer..this is not constructive at all.
@please…
jagz to that kid?….lol…is his album ready??…lol…..does he even have a nomination for any award you can ever remember…..please call me when he is doing a show around town ….abeg