Shawn Jackson is the best of both worlds — he’s laid back like the flow of his West Coast home, and raps with the flare of his East Coast roots; he’s unendingly cordial and friendly, and gully to the tune of a menacing gaze and air of someone who’d fuck you up; he bends beats to the will of his rhymes, and has the golden ear of classically trained musician.

With more glowing cosigns than you could shake a major label at, Shawn Jackson might just be Hip-Hop’s best kept secret. Blu named him as “The Future of Hip-Hop” in XXL, House Shoes will vouch for him as fast as for Guilty Simpson or any other family, and when Shawn first met Like from Pac Div, Like said in true fan fashion “You don’t understand, I have all of your music on my iPod.”

Without question, Shawn Jackson is one of the only rappers left standing who keeps me interested in Hip-Hop. There’s no pretense about him — he’s willing to smile and laugh when most industry folks stand on the sidelines baring near comical mean mugs. With Shawn’s deep understanding of how to make any beat his own, consider this look at his Fave Five a spin-off of the Beat Maker Series.

Bill Withers – +’justments

“It was an emotional album — the first album I respected top to bottom just based on pure emotion. It’s like a beautiful sounding album, too. I didn’t know Bill could sing. I think that was the first time I really respected a guy’s voice. Like he was definitely a manly dude, I’m not saying he was soft or nothing like that, but his voice just sounded crazy angelic. [Laughs] It’s just a dope record even to this day. I went out and bought a turntable just so I could play that record. I didn’t even have one when I had my records out. I had to go to a yard sale — I bought me an $8 table just Read the rest of this entry »

The day she introduced me to this song, it changed my life. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ll admit it, I slept on Shawn Jackson’s music.

It took weeks for me to put his debut First Of All in the deck, but once I did I couldn’t help but feel stupid. There isn’t anything complex about it. Nevertheless, as a complete project, it just makes sense. It’s not forced or fraudulent, and with varied flavors of beats we get to see several aspects of the sharp-witted MC.

Speaking of beats, dude’s got an ear for quality production, which makes the album listenable from front to back without having to press “next.” He’s not just rapping to rap and actually has substance to his rhymes while skillfully avoiding coming off boring.

Nap no longer, Shawn Jackson is the real.

To further understand the man behind First Of All, The Crew’s Corey Bloom caught up with Shawn in his native Los Angeles to talk about his upbringing in Hip-Hop, how he himself has contributed and continues to contribute and also the debate of Dutchs’ versus flavored Optimos.

Be sure to check the videos for “Feelin Jack,” “Soopafly” and “Countdown” at www.youtube.com/user/bigshawnstud

From the album, First Of All.

Myspace.com/shawnjackson