And if you got beef, then we rockin' ya jaw..."
This is the second entry in the Jack Yo Beatz series, originally released in 2006. Apparently it was released right after SO-LO was, to help promote it. It was originally released as a free download, and then was released in a slim case in 2007 - moved up to jewel case in 2008, and became the version we all know and love in 2009 - the current one. This EP is ridiculously short, so I'm going to go ahead and get moving on it.
Graphics:
Much like the first entry in the Jack Yo Beatz series, the album art changes across the spectrum of different releases this album has seen. Below I will list the different releases it has seen and what that means for the art. In terms of music, I believe all four releases are composed of the same content.
The first release, in 2006, has a different cover than the 2007 re-release. You'll see it below with the rest of the art.
The second release - the slim case release (2007), actually shares the same cover art as the 2008 press which came with a jewel case.
The final 2009 pressing shares the same skull and AK design as the first release, except that instead of red lettering, it has green lettering. The only real differences between the two are the coloring of the lettering and the track listing (Which is on the back), as far as art goes. It has the same Infectshop insert on the inside, and again the cover art is just a slip. The CD art is identical to the first Jack Yo Beatz, but with green lettering and an added "2" as a part of the title.
Content:
This CD wasn't great. It's similar to the last one - lots of modified pop beats that Lo Key jacks and uses as the foundation for the songs on this EP. There are five tracks literally, but the intro is nine seconds long, so it's more like four tracks. The rest of the tracks are around three-and-a-half minutes long, and, this might have been the shortest CD I've ever listened to. Like, in my life. The fact that this CD is able to move itself at all - in any iota, is actually kind of surprising. Basically, I want to stress that you're paying (Unless you grab it on sale) 12.99 for four tracks of content. Not really worth it.
Besides the tragically short length of this CD, what about the content of the CD itself? It's not terrible, but not actually good either. At its peak, it's good; but across all four tracks, it's mediocre at best. Considering that there are four tracks, the potential for greatness is rather low, and while the good tracks shine, they are dulled by the severe lack of content on the CD itself. I personally enjoy two out of the four tracks on this CD, and I'm fairly sure that they're exclusive to this CD only (Save for remixes), but that still doesn't justify the pricing. Overall, I'd say that none of these tracks stand out as amazing - even though some are pretty good. I would not recommend this CD to anyone - unless you're big on collecting and you really like Lo Key's work. In that case, there will be something here for you - just not much.
Yo ninjas: You're better off just getting the first entry in the "Jack Yo Beatz" series. Don't even waste your time or money on this one - unless Lo Key is selling it significantly cheaper or something.
JRH gives "Jack Yo Beatz 2" by Lo Key a: 1.3/5!
(I think Lo Key just broke the record for lowest JRH score...)
Good points:
- Eh, it has cool album art I guess
That's about it
Bad points:
- Who the fuck is going to to pay 12.99 for a four-track CD
- Oh wait I did. But seriously that is a pretty terrible price
- Nothing too fantastic here
- Only one or two good tracks depending on what you like
- This CD feels, looks and smells like a cash-out; it should have probably been kept free. Even as much as I love physical copies, this is probably not even worth the price of production, much less the price of purchase
And that's that ninjas. Lo Key has taken the lead for worst CD score - do you think it's possible to get any lower than a 1.3?!?! I don't know, but I'd say that it'd be really difficult to do...
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| Shit, it looks like someone made this image in paint and then added the bottom text in Roflbot. This is utterly terrible. |
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| This EP is different than the first one in that the second iteration of the cover art is actually better than the first one. |
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| Final 2009 repressing |
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