Tear Gas

Bay Area rapper the Jacka spent his 2008 on mixtapes and collaboration albums, working those circuits so hard that you'd think he'd have nothing left for his high-profile 2009 release, Tear Gas. It's a bit of an uneven effort and the layout is all wrong — opening with the hazy, lazy "Summer" just feels weird — but overall it's a surprising success, especially when taking his abundant output into account. Jacka is a confident, talented, and believable gangster with a newfound hunger to cross over, something that seems much more possible here than on his respected 2006 album, Jack of All Trades. The Traxamillion-produced "Glamorous Lifestyle" is the club track to pick with its loose and easy hook, one that's perfectly tailored for Jacka's quick delivery and his light, arguably weak voice. What he lacks in verbal punch, he makes up for with consistent rhymes and remarkable flow, the former making "They Don't Know" a highlight, while the latter enriches the spaced-out feel of "Keep Callin'" with Devin the Dude on the assist. Even if the guest list is big, Jacka is in command, and with Traxamillion, MG, and Roblo behind the boards, Tear Gas is a worthy trip through the more chilled-out sections of the Bay.