From beginning to end, he stocks the album with innovative ideas, richly textured rhythms, and powerful tracks. “So Much (Chaos)” opens with Jawwaad burning from a global nightmare: “Streets of Fallujah, Ramallah/Wild-eyed bomber with no target/They say the babies is heartless, regardless/We reap what we sow/So then, let us gather our harvest.” Lil Sci follows with an equally inspired verse: “Too many heads in our culture not repping it right/That’s why we’re here now/Philanthropists through the mics, feed the hungry with these ill styles.” Then Jarel brings up the rear: “Never heard something like this before/And probably won’t for two or three thousand centuries more.” Although enthusiastic, Jarel lacks the precision of the others.īut if Craft of the Lost Art suffers from Jarel’s lyrical deficiencies, he successfully makes his case as one of the most exhilirating beatmakers on the scene today. It comes into focus whenever someone else jumps on his tracks. The qualititative differences between the two are striking. But the furiously brilliant Craft of the Lost Art also diverges between Jarel the producer and Jarel the MC. Who Dat? The only other real person, it seems, is Houston multi-instrumentalist Jawwaad Taylor.
The narrative behind Shape of Broad Minds is that it splits Jneiro Jarel into several identities: Panama Black, Roc Wun and Dr.
