Complacency, like sleep, is the cousin of death. As long as the endless beat of the 808 pacifies insiders, the world will need anti-musical alarm clocks like Bigg Jus’s latest, Poor People’s Day. Of course, like the alarm that pierces an early morning slumber, the sound of a man “annihilating everything before your very ears” isn’t always the most soothing. On Poor People’s Day, the former Company Flow member offers up vocals that fly directly in the face of linear rhyming and rhythmic flow. Even on the most lyrically direct tracks, Jus rhymes in a free association style with extra-long bars. Rather than match the meter of the beat, Jus makes up his own patterns as he goes, frequently rhyming between or totally off beats. Paired with this unconventional flow is a set of clever, politically charged lyrics (especially on “Anything You See Fit (Change by Design),” “Energy Harvester (Swallow the Sun),” and the subtly intense anti-Bush anthem “The Night Before”) that show Jus’ willingness to use words as a critical tool. In many respects, Poor People’s Day picks up where the criminally slept on Black Market Militia disc left off – offering laser-sharp critiques of contemporary politics and consumerism. The poetry of Jus’ critiques is, in a word, unmatched. There’s a second level of statement at work on Poor People’s Day, however. While defying the lyrical norm, this album upends the subversive qualities of the hip-hop beat. The thumping bass coming out of cars from city to suburb are an assault on the tranquility of all those on the outside; these same rhythms, however, build a cocoon, a gauzy groove in which hip-hoppers can grow complacent (from Kanye to “Laffy Taffy”). It’s easy enough to roll the windows up and let the sub-woofer kick, but there’s still a larger world outside. So, out go the regularly rhythmic beats. What we get (with a few exceptions) is a set of anti-beats from DJ Gman that click, stop, and chop underneath Jus’ vocals. And yet, the production remains appealing throughout – from the eerie, chorally laced “Anything You See Fit” to the chopped up chants of “Orbital Mechanics”. Of course, there’s always a catch. Unlike Edan’s Beauty and the Beat, where all unhinged parts of the album still hang together, the vocals and the beats on Poor People’s Day sound as if they’re at odds with each other. As a result, the album is ultimately more interesting as an array of ideas than a set of songs. Far from a daily listen, no doubt, but important nonetheless. After all, an alarm wakes sleepers up – it doesn’t serenade them through the day. - Okayplayer
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1XLP/Out Of Print