Artist: DJ Krush
Album: Jaku
Record label: Juno Records
Rating:
Reviewer: da MetroGnome

On DJ Krush’s newest record, you will find a man that is searching for something outside the formula or creative processes that brought him critical acclaim. On this endeavor, Jaku, you are hopefully expected to experience exactly what the title name lends: ‘tranquility’ by way of Japanese translation. It is a deviation from traditional hip hop, both aesthetically and sonically, but it is precisely this worldly ambience that challenges our notions of hip hop, culture, and globalization.

DJ Krush produced and recorded this album with little assistance. He also makes it very clear that he wanted to create a record where the music would speak to the individual, rather than letting the lyrical wordplay of an MC push around the thoughts and conceptions of the listener. Thus, he has only two tracks featuring an MC as Mr. Lif and Aesop Rock, both Def Jukies, fill those roles, and Akira Sakata singing in Japanese on a third joint.

On with a more thorough analysis of the music. The very first joint, “Still Island,” has a dark feel to it, complemented with an electronic breakbeat and the traditional Japanese instrument equivalent to the flute played by Shuuzan Morita. This is a perfect example of how Krush establishes a feeling and aura, but allows the listener to create a story or interpretation in their own mind, much like happens with dope jazz music. Again on “Road To Nowhere,” a very similar concept and sound is used, almost as if it is meant to be an extension of the first track. To give a reference point for what one may think upon hearing it, these first two tracks sound like they could have been old Portishead backbeats. Mr. Lif comes in on “Nosferatu” telling about spooky nighttime events as he spits on the hook: “Strange things happen in the nighttime/ When you leave your crib to come and hear a/ Hype rhyme/ Enter show so I’ve got you/ Black Nosferatu/ Once your under spell/ I’ll do what the hell I want to.” Again, the beat has an airy, morbid, ambient texture to it with a dialogue being spoken between a closed hi-hat, a kick drum, and the snare. The fifth track, “Transition,” uses a orchestral sample, or at least sound, as Krush chops up the string section in a variety of ways to initiate several loops. Electronic drums are used here, sometimes in hyper mode, to give the track an excitable energy.

One of the most outstanding tracks though is “Decks-atrhon” featuring Tatsuki. As the name suggests, it is the one track that reminds us that Krush is also well versed in turntablism. The joint starts out with more of the same airy feeling to it, in addition to an electronic soundscape. But, if one listens closely enough, you can hear that they’ve just taken tiny samples from their decks and skewed them enough to create this texture. Then about a minute and a half in comes the ill scratches, cuts, stabs, and backspins. The next track, “Kill Switch,” features the other set of vocal addition. Ace Rizzle shines more on this joint than Lif on his, but probably because the sound that Krush employs on this entire record is right up Aesop’s alley. For those that don’t know, Aesop is both brilliant and possibly unstable at the same time, comin’ with a razor tongue, a mind full of morbid thoughts, and an introverted perspective. His lyrics are almost entirely written in metaphors, such as “Float like a butter/ Fly sting Jackals/ You could never shackle/ Zooka maggots bring mavericks/ Sing a song sick spit blood in sink savage/ Illin’ children, cuttin’ paper lilacs in the attic/ And I casually shift up/ These crusaders hold a dual saber defense/ For the cruel natured weekend drifter/ Please do not interrupt the placement of the steak/ on my kinfolk’s plate, wait.”

In hindsight, this is quite a bit different from Krush’s previous records, as he attempts to do something that many non-American hip hop artists don’t do: use his own native culture as his influence for this hip hop record. Most artists tend to use formulas that sound as traditionally American as they can, in an effort to make it marketable still as “hip hop.” Here, DJ Krush takes chances, and while some may view this LP as too weird, having too few lyricists, or possibly too electronic, he’s pushing his own boundaries. Jaku is a solid record built under the auspices of “peace” and with that as his motivation, he achieves it fairly well. If you deem the “feeling” of something as important as other areas of content, then you will probably enjoy this shit and you should cop it. Still, give it a chance to impact you.