There’s no denying
DJ Jazzy Jeff's indelible impact on hip-hop -- he earned rap’s first-ever Grammy award and sold over 5.5 million records in the U.S. alongside the
Fresh Prince. Years removed from his heyday,
Jeff has since faded from the mainstream but has continued carving out his own solo career, releasing a number of mixtapes and solo projects and becoming a prominent R&B/neo-soul producer.
The Return of the Magnificent, the follow-up to 2002’s
The Magnificent, is vindicating proof that
Jeff is more than a mere relic of hip-hop’s golden era, and marks his first official release in five years. For the occasion, he enlists a range of hip-hop heavyweights (household names like
Big Daddy Kane and
Method Man), underground mainstays (
J-Live and
Jean Grae), and hometown talents (
Eshon Burgundy and
Peedi Peedi) to cover vocal duties. While guest artists are at the fore,
Jeff interjects plenty of hip-hop breaks, and scratches and adorns each track with a sprawling palette of sonic tapestries, heavily embedded in jazz (“Practice” borrows from
Donald Byrd's famed and frequently sampled “Think Twice”), ‘70s soul (“My Soul Ain’t for Sale” beautifully incorporates
Bobby Caldwell's cut “What You Won’t Do for Love” with
Raheem DeVaughn's vocal harmonies), and ‘60s funk (“Jeff N Fess” loops an insistent sample of
James Brown's “Bring It Up”).
The Return is, at its core, a hip-hop album, but
Jeff acclimates to R&B tracks as well -- much like on
The Magnificent -- employing singer
Raheem DeVaughn on the melodic “My Soul Ain’t for Sale,” and
Chinah Blac for the sensual “Touch Me wit Ur Hands,” though,
Chinah Blac’s hushed vocals feel like a deficient substitute for an emcee’s flow over the song’s possessive rhythm and its infectious, sampled loop of
Floetry's “Say Yes." The album rounds out with a fun rehash of the
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince hit “Brand New Funk,” featuring rapper
Peedi Peedi (of
State Property fame) in place of
Will Smith. The conclusion connects
Jeff’s past with his present, encapsulating his evolution over time as a producer and DJ, and marking
The Return a cohesive, definitive body of work. ~ Andre Barnes