Hood Hop 2.5 (Clean)

Still a teen at the time, J-Kwon scored the pre-summertime smash of 2004 with the ode to underage drinking, "Tipsy." The album that followed, Hood Hop, a built-around-the-hit patchwork of a record released on Arista, harbored few moments nearly as delirious as his signature single, and J-Kwon semi-retired from the industry for a few years. When he re-emerged, it would be on his own terms. In early 2009, he self-released Hood Hop 2 exclusively on the internet. That record garnered enough critical head-nods and impressive-for-indie sales for Gracie to bring J-Kwon back to the majors for the all-new (despite the semi-misleading label) Hood Hop 2.5. The hiatus pays off to an extent; J-Kwon seems sharper, his flow more devilish, more potent, slightly more swaggering even (if that's possible). The St. Louis rapper is at his best when he's name-checking his hometown as he does on opening single "Louie Bounce (I Smacked Nikki)," a smoothed-out dancefloor jam with nary a sound or syllable out of place as he speeds up and slows down at will. For much of the album, however, J-Kwon is feast-or-famine (and in an odd way, it often balances out). The silly, worn sex rhymes of "Close Your Eyes" are offset by borderline enthralling production, and swirling '80s new romantic keyboard loops, made all the more absurd by using an obscure Air Supply sample ("Sweet Dreams") as the hook. While "St. Louis S**t" has some straight-up hilarious and/or ear-popping lines ("celebrate J-Kwon-zaa"), the beats lag behind, practically tacked on. And it's hard to know what to think when he reprises his moment in the spotlight, ending the collection with "Tipsy 09." Still, if you don't think about it too hard, it's a fun coda of celebration to a record which shows a gleaming dollop of promise for an MC who seemed a one-hit wonder. [A clean version of the CD, with all profanities removed, was also released.]