The Under-Cover Album Review started out as a way for me to simply ramble about albums I enjoyed, and while this was fun for a while, it soon turned into a place for new and unfamiliar artists to get some press coverage for their album. Lately, the bigger names have taken over the bulk of my album reviews, and those unknown artists are only getting singles featured on the site. It's hard running a website with extremely minimal outside help, especially being a full-time student, but for the first time in a long time I was able to sit down and listen to an album I've never heard of, from an artist just as unfamiliar to me as the project he's pushing. The album is TherapeuticMindState by Jed The Fameless, and the following is my review on his seven track release.
Jed The Fameless; a pretty odd name, but it's a name that has a lot of relevance and uniqueness. The relevance is that he is indeed fameless, but that didn't stop him from putting out a project.
This Houston, Texas native is actually a fairly talented emcee that definitely deserves to be heard. His rhyme style is nothing out of the ordinary, but his lyricism is very versatile and diverse as an abundance of educated and clever lyrics can be heard throughout the entire listen. Often times up and coming artists struggle most with the delivery of their rhymes, but Jed shows great maturity with his delivery, and while it's not perfect, he had minimal sputters and virtually no mishaps with his delivery. Some of his best work of stressing syllables and conveying his thoughts come on the track "My City" as he genuinely surprised the heck out of me with his lyrical talent.
Not only is Jed's delivery on point, but he's all around a dope emcee. He doesn't talk much on the cliche' topics, which is admirable because making honest and thoughtful music is not the most lucrative path. He has a bit of a raspy yet soft voice that is soothing at times, as well as intense pending on the track.
He has a touch of Fresh Daily within his sound, and that is great compliment to those not familiar with Fresh Daily's work. Jed will surprise listeners with his natural ability to put together a dope verse. This guy really enjoys making music, and that can be heard all throughout TherapeuticMindState as he just rhymes about what's on his mind.
Before getting into the beats and production on the album, I'd like to first point out one of the best lines on the album. On the track "Ballin' Interlude" Jed said " If you're sick of this bubble-gum rap/ my music is your prescription." It's lines like this that really make this project something special as this is one artist who sees the issue with the industry, and rather than just mope because of the industry's unfairness, he just makes his own damn music! I love it, and in terms of the all-around vocals, Jed killed it, and that right there should be enough to persuade anyone to check this man out.
Production wise, TherapeuticMindState was surprisingly cohesive and comprehensive in it's overall theme and sound. Rapper/Producer Tre' Crowell is credited with three of the tracks beats, and he is an extremely talented young producer who has been featured on the site before. Crowell produced the three better tracks on the album, and that's not to say that the remaining songs were bad, just that his contribution definitely elevated the album's final sound. Also receiving three production credits is Producer, Little Slugger. Slugger will definitely surprise a lot of in-depth listeners because he too is a fairly gifted producer. The album's running sound is a bit of soulful boom-bap that explores many realms of various other labels. Cohesiveness is a big plus, and this album's production seemed to handle that fairly well.
In all, this is a surprisingly solid release that will shock listeners at just how good it is. Jed The Fameless is almost guaranteed to be a new name to listeners, but maybe this is the fresh new name listeners need. TherapeuticMindState isn't flawless, but it gets the job done, and Jed The Fameless is without question an artist worth looking into. Check out the project and comment your thoughts!
@Realnpoetic
@Realnpoetic
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