The Juggaknots - Use Your Confusion
Label: Babygrande
Grade: B-
Dopeness Percentage: 53%
Highlight: “Smile” featuring Castro
Also Download: Vows, 30 Something, Leon Phelps
Overview: Can you remember what you were listening to in 1995? That’s how far back you have to go to peep the last Juggaknots album. The Clear Blue Skies EP was originally released on East West Records (now Elektra), but was shelved over some creative differences. A year later, Bobbitto Garcia released the vinyl-only EP on his now defunct Fondle Em Records imprint. Finally, in ’03, the album was re-released to a wide-range audience and it finally got the props is deserved. If you don’t know the Juggaknots, they are the Bronx, NY trio comprised of brothers, Buddy Slim and Breezly Brewin, and their younger sister, Queen Herawin. So where has this crew been over the past decade? You may remember Breeze playing the lead role of “Tariq” on Prince Paul’s “A Prince Among Thieves” album, or possibly collaboration with El-P and J-Treds on the “Lyricist Lounge” album under the name Indelible MCs. All of this brings us to the long awaited sophomore release, entitled “Use Your Confusion.”
The album starts off with the raw intro “Here Comes [3 Soldiers],” with a tight sample proclaiming that “soldiers are always hungry.” A number of highlights follow, including “Hey,” “Namesake,” and “Leon Phelps” all produced by Brewin himself. “30 Something” featuring a show stealing verse from Sadat X is also standout. With Jay-Z’s song of the same name, why are 30 year olds looking for so much self-affirmation this year? Slick Rick makes a solid appearance on the Oh-No produced, “Vows.” “Crazy 8’s” features 12 emcees, including John Robinson, Rob-O and Wordsworth among others. This may narrowly defeat Nas’ “Where Are They Now” remixes for the largest posse cut award. This is a solid album all in all. The beats are grimy, the samples are creative and the lyrics are more than adequate. With the mixed gender emcees, you can’t help but pick up on a Digable Planets vibe, with less jazz and more boom bap. The “average” songs on this LP are still good based on today’s hip hop standards – just not as stellar as others. You can argue if any album is worth a ten year wait, but a more mature sound fits the Juggaknots family well.
Dopeness Percentage - Takes into account how many dope songs there are compared to tracks on the album. For example, if an album had 14 tracks and 5 of them were dope, you have a Dopeness of 36%.
