Jamal – Aseam (Album Review)

A 24th album from independent artist Jamal dives into hardcore rapping more than ever.

Formerly one half of the East Coast/West Coast adolescent rap duo Illegal, along with Snoop Dogg’s young cousin Lil Malik, Philadelphia native Jamal got his start with Atlanta rap mogul Dallas Austin’s side project. Back then, the duo drew comparisons to another child rap duo from Atlanta, Kriss Kross, but Illegal’s focus was on hardcore rap, and they never hesitated to diss the Kross boys on wax.

Their debut album, The Untold Truth, dropped in the fall of 1993 to a lukewarm reception. After disbanding in 1994, one of the members, Mally G, got down with Erick Sermon and the Def Squad soon thereafter. In late 1995, Jamal released his debut album, Last Chance, No Breaks, with the elastic support of heavily funky production. Since then, for already more than 25 years, Jamal has been putting himself out there with hardcore lyricism, and his raw rapping on Aseam is no exception.

The new record from the rapper is gritty, raw, and rough in all possible scenarios. The vocal performances alongside his rapping on tracks like “Hip Hop Police” or “Special,” which uses a Mos Def beat, introduce you to the more ferocious and hungry delivery. Both of those tracks really give you that bite the artist intends, with a slight touch of frenetic execution. However, tracks like “Always On My Mind” and “AR” represent the melodic side of the record, giving you the divine touch of the artist’s romantic storytelling.

Throughout the record, you get different types of production that certainly sound very subparly mixed. In some instances, you can barely hear the song production, which conflicts with the artist’s vocals. “Made” could be considered one of those instances when the artist jumps in on the track with a fast and aggressive tone, which is slightly undermined due to the poor production mixing. Lack of mastery on some of the beats and vocals is the biggest disadvantage of the record. It gives you this raw and gritty sound that sometimes works in the context of chaotic and wild rapping, yet sometimes comes off as a shortfall to the track.

What stays quite clear to me throughout the album is that the rapper is certainly skilled enough to give you some punchy bars. On tracks like “Titl” or “Hip Hop Police,” where disordered and messy sounds come out slightly explosive and intense, giving a wild edge to those tracks that seems to work out. Moreover, the gravelly tone that the artist adopts truly sounds raspy, cementing the already rough production even more.

Score/Mediocre: Overall, the artist shows his rapping skills quite explicitly, yet the shortfalls in mixing, production, and sound engineering truly come off as a disadvantage for Aseam. If, on the next record, Jamal attempts to incorporate better vocal mastering and better mixing on the beats themselves, the record might have a solid shot. As of now, I feel Mediocre.

[We rank singles, EPs, and albums on a scale of Poor, Mediocre, Good, Excellent, and Outstanding]

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