This CD is sick everyone should buy a JRec Album this is the future of music.
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What do you look for in a hip-hop CD?  An MC boasting about all the jewelry, cash and cars he/she has got?  Stories about how their drug deals went down, or how “gangsta” they are?  If this is what you’re after, then you’ll be missing out on one of the most politically thought-provoking and analytical CDs to ever come out of Pittsburgh, Citizens Development Group, by local rapper, song-writer and singer, J.Rec.


     With original material, the album truly represents what J. Rec’s crew name, Collective Minds, means—several individuals coming together to achieve a collective consciousness or common goal, in this case, the creation of a compilation of songs not unlike those of hip-hop’s Common and Kanye West, with a little bit of rock’s Rage Against the Machine and folk-rock’s Bob Dylan.  And that’s just to speak of the lyrics.  The sultry piano and bass grooving along with drums tracks cross generic boundaries so often that the album needs its own boarder patrol.  


     A majority of the record, if not all of it, consists of layers of R&B vocals, and rapid, highly syncopated hip-hop rapping, interwoven with multi-layered beats.  The songs brim over with talent, making J. Rec’s boastful claims in “First Round Pick” seem credible: “Get the agent and attorney and skip the degree. This is first round pick shit baby! Woooo!”


     This record leaves virtually no stone left unturned in this, JRec’s first, self-released record.  From the celebrations of youthful exuberance and misrule of “When I Was a Little Bit Skinner,” to the worldly, complex plea for “a way [out] from this,” our current socio-political, war-absorbed, poverty-stricken circumstances in “The Masquerade of Tre Shots,” J. Rec truly attempts to “say it all,” as suggested in the introduction to the compilation, “Dedicated to Those Exploited to Death.”  Tre Shots delivers haunting lyrics over a classic, piano-laced beat, all the while begging and giving new meaning to George Benson’s question, “Are we really happy here?.”  “When I Was a Little Bit Skinnier” skips along with the energy of a five year-old who’s just eaten a thousand pixy stixs. Other tracks move with the precision of a samurai over an old-school drum track, or slowly drift to the hypnotic guitar riffs of Pete and John Reynolds in the jazz-rock-hip-hop fusion, “Chillaut'.”


     This CD has just about all you need.  Road songs include “Come With Me,” about a dark yet hopeful nighttime cruise “through the city,” “Associate” and “Keepin’ It Real,” which both feature lyrics and wickedly smooth spitting lip-licks by Lip the Kid.  Even the intro comes out smooth as molasses when dealing with traffic.  


     With tracks including window-rattling bass lines, or the downy-soft R&B and Pittsburgh steel-strong songs, I am not sure which, if any, is the true club banger in the mix.  When I say club song, I am thinking of Jay-Z’s “Big Pimpin,” or a Fat Joe’s “Lean Back,” or almost anything with Lil’ John on it.  Perhaps the audience-involving, “What I Do,” which invites a woman or women to meet Rec’s crew and includes a call and response chorus, comes the closest.  As anthems are always made in part by their audiences, the verdict will have to remain out on this one for the time-being. 


     Either way, when you break it down, the album is unlike what’s being done in either mainstream or underground hip hop.  With beats by Arson and Enaisee, the soulful vocal styling of Etta Akapwela and impressive R&B vocals by Rec himself, this CD may or may not cross-over to the other indie listener audiences he seems to be courting.  Does it really matter?  If you see J. Rec, and you want to meet his crew, “just say hello.”  You’ll be glad you did.    - 


by Michael DiVittorio
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This record leaves virtually no stone left unturned.  From the celebrations of youthful exuberance and misrule of “When I Was a Little Bit Skinner,” to the worldly, complex plea for “a way [out] from this,” our current socio-political, war-absorbed, poverty-stricken circumstances in “The Masquerade of Tre Shots,” J. Rec truly attempts to “say it all,” as suggested in the introduction to the compilation, “Dedicated to Those Exploited to Death.”  A majority of the record consists of layers of R&B vocals, and rapid, highly syncopated rhyming, interwoven with multi-layered beats.  The songs brim over with talent and are a must have for any hip-hop connoisseur.
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Over the contemplative and beautiful instrumentals of producer Enaisee, JRec eloquently observes and comments on all aspects of life. From discontent with government and politics, watching friends fall into the depths of drugs use, longing for days of youthfull innocence, and pursuing a dream against convention, this album paints the pictures of life to which we can all relate. For those who dream big and question everything, Citizens Development Group is a snapshot of our country and our lives as we live them today.
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