For this year's Underground Rap Awards, I'm writing in Jaeychino's name for Rookie of the Year. Sure, there are Kurrco-hungry cartoons (and genuine talent) that have racked up bigger numbers, but over five tapes in 12 months, DC's monotonous writer has perfected his craft. In January, by Jaeychino WORK OF ART The trilogy opened the blackness with a remix of Nino Paid's “Pain & Possibilities” somewhat more painful than the original. Where Nino exorcises grief with outspoken outbursts, Jay lets it metastasize and fuel his appetite for revenge. Since then, his blueprint composition has created a house of gorgeous synth melodies and maudlin vocal tracks. WORK OF ART II“Home Depot,” from June, is the kind of morning commute music that makes your gas pedal feel a little lighter. After August's 15-track heat test WATCH THE THRONE, Jaeychino has already resurfaced WORK OF ART III, the first project of his career.
Almost every track burns for less than two minutes, each one eroding into the next and rarely losing momentum. The operatic outburst of 'LIFE 2 REAL' is Jaeychino's most theatrical work to date: The mourning angels buried beneath the mammoth 808 mourn the lives it praises, its relentless flow so urgent you imagine the studio collapsing around of. The title track features ethereal melodies in an echo chamber of drum and bass as Jay uses the cracks in his voice to convey adversity (“A man who'll do the right thing for the young?”). The piece's only flaw comes in the form of a painfully misplaced endorsement of Trump. But like fervent street poets before him, Jaeychino weaves claims of revenge into a quilt of anguish, depicting the brutal cycle in which he feels trapped. For every bar in memory of a loved one, there is another around the corner that refers to death.
Jaeychino's ear for live production makes up for whatever leaks from his memory bank. It's hard to hear his precise deadpan over producer SJR's scathing beats and not think of classic Lucki. “RPS” horrible fog remembers. Watch My Back– era gloom. WORK OF ART III furthers the comatose fly of that sound with symphonic polish and post-opium vitriol. The piano drops that add subtlety to “AND1” and “30” make the doom of central “FAKE PS” feel monumental: As the metal thumps violently, fellow DMV ST6 JodyBoof drops to throw grenades into the street. “I'm calling with Jay, I know we're gonna blow,” he gushes, “Black truck with shooters, I feel like the Pope.” The industrial reconstruction of this track runs throughout the tape, touching on “PR4Y” and the Snow Strippers collaboration “STURDY”. “TRIS” takes on an incandescent glow similar to Tibetan ritual bowls. Its warmth emanates like rays of sunshine through a screen door. Rarely, during the tape's half-hour run, is time wasted.
