“The bitches on the bozack, at the club throwin stacks/It’s star wars – they threw two I threw fo’ back…”

I have an admission to make. I may be one of the few who doesn’t have The Doctor’s Advocate on repeat and may actually be missin the fuss.
Instead, I’ve got Hustler’s P.O.M.E. as my choice for consistent repeat play.
Jim Jones is probably more hated than loved in most circles. Personally I’m wise enough to understand two things – Jim’s an entertainer and he understands multiple aspects of business. Take count and notice he’s put out a dvd, several official mixtapes and milked the shit out of his own & other people’s remixes. He’s put his name, face & brand anywhere he’s given the chance to. And he’s havin fun with it, selling the whole executive/entertainer/entreprenuer image with success.

“The Black Fonz“, often seen clad in black leather, jeans, chain wallets, and gruff beard more akin to a James Dean character IMO, is definitely livin the life of a Black rock star and executes it well on this album, which is part of it’s allure. When the Dips first hit the scene, a chunk of their success relied on Heatmakerz sample-driven beats and choruses; Jim’s flipped that. His formula is now hooks sang by himself of Max B. plus beats manipulated by guitar licks mixed with heavy snares and bass (“Intro“, “Bright Lights, Big City” both featuring Max).

On the intro especially, we see perfect meshing of the image, beats and Jim’s best attempt to stay in tune with the beat, which has greatily improved…

“I’m still praying to God/cause life’s not promised, not even manana…I’m leavin out the club, and the boys right and’em behind us/I’m chasin death, gettin closer to thirty/it’s sunny outside, but the roadster is dirty…”

On POME, it’s not that the lyrics will overwhelm. It’s moreso that Jim has mastered Pac 101 – sell yourself & your image and allow the public to buy into it, so when you do rap, they feel you. And in Jim’s world, the Feds “still spook me in my nightmares.”

“Emotionless” featuring Juelz, one has to wonder if Juelz were not affiliated Dipset, would people give him more credit as a talented force? Rememberable chorus + heavy, slow bass snyced with syths and keys that ride on top of it = muwaah. “Love Of My Life” and “Weatherman” are both prerequisite “we sell/sold dope” tracks but the former has a echoing beat plus Max kills the hook. The latter features Weezy and Stack Bundles…so I guess we’ll thank Jim for taking the L and puttin his ego aside to get outshined on his album.

On “Pin The Tail” feat. Cam, Juelz and Max, Cam finds a good lane between his usual babble and actually spittin what endeared him to OG fans. And Jim? “…then take the proceeds, waste about 4gs/on bottles in the club, trying to get the hoe to skeez/I’m trying to get the dame to breeze, but the hoe puttin up a fight like Layla Ali…middle name “40 on the wrist”/last name “you can’t afford me bitch”/get a camcorder bitch.” Arrogance personafied.

“Don’t Push Me Away” featuring Rell is bubblin type cool mainly because a.) it features Rell whom I assumed was working @ Taco Bell and b.) it has a similar feel to “Love For Free” from the SIW OST from ’96.

I know he’s trying to feed his friends and family, but someone please tell these dudes to stop puttin Jha Jha on tracks (“Get It Poppin“). And while I’m glad to finally get a full version of “Don’t Forget About Me“, the more I listen to it I realize that I don’t like the mix down on this version and this sounds too much like Pac and/or Jeezy with the extensive amount of ad-libs.

Livin life fast. You aggins need to catch up, slow pokes.

Overall, I enjoyed this joint and, whether you accept it or not, Jim keeps doing things from all angles that are worth the price of admission.

Jim Jones – Hustler’s P.O.M.E.