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Jeru The Damaja - Still RisingAlbum Review by:
John Burnett
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
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Brooklyn New York has bred some of the most gifted emcees in Hip Hop. Sure, we’ll remember the mainstream greats like Notorious B.I.G. and Young Hova but what about the underground legends; you know like the prophet, Jeru the Damaja? Jeru’s The Sun Rises in the East and Wrath of the Math were both, respectively, lauded by the critics and depending on whom you talk to, deemed Hip Hop classics. Around 1996, he had surmounted a strong underground sect of followers, yet when he had his fall out with DJ Premier, who had previously produced his efforts, Jeru fell into obscurity. He subsequently released two albums that went unnoticed. Given the limited memory of today’s average Hip Hop fan, Jeru can either vault himself back into momentary relevance with his new album, Still Rising, or face outright extinction because in today’s climate you’re only as good as your last album.
Still Rising is a composite of what fans of Jeru have come to expect from him; intelligent lyricism, creative concept tracks with detailed storytelling, and that unapologetic attitude Brooklynite’s are renowned for having. On “Kick Rocks,” Jeru jokingly apologizes for all the misdeeds he has done in his lifetime listing everything from “tappin’ ya girl” to “not workin’ with your favorite producer” to “livin’ trife” ending each of his three verses telling his opposition to “kick rocks.” On “The Prophet,” Jeru returns to his roots of weaving inventive anecdotes similar to his work on Wrath of the Math. On this outing, Jeru personifies human attributes like anger, fear, despair, lust and ignorance to describe his battle against evil and the story ends with a lady cleverly named seduction chopping off his locks with the narrator stating to be continued…
Never being the one to spare the listener an opportunity to learn something, Jeru kicks some major knowledge on “History 101.” In his lesson, he details a thorough timeline of the slave trade and how European countries “ganked their wealth.” He provides dates, names and accounts of Ponce De Leon, Magellan and Christopher Columbus displaying why he’s not your typical rapper. Jeru describes his birthright on “NY” with “I’m on the train late night with cocksuckers and bull dykes/re-ligious fanatics, winos get into knife fights” ending his verse with a train stop chime saying “here’s my stop I gots to go.” “Quantum Leap” finds Jeru hopping in the time machine to prevent the deaths of Malcolm, Martin, Pac and Big as well preventing the mass distribution of crack once again showing his knack for stepping outside typical rapper subject content.
Still Rising is a triumphant return for Jeru the Damaja. It’s intelligent, decidedly lyrical and creative as hell. Unfortunately, albums like this are destined to sell about two copies and gather dust on the few local mom and pop shops that are still open. New Hip Hop heads should pick this one up and then back track to Jeru’s earlier work. Past fans of the prophet should most definitely cop it as it’s a return to Jeru’s quality work pre-Heroz4Hire.
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