Review: J-Zone “Pimps Don’t Pay Taxes”

 

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J-Zone
“Pimps Don’t Pay Taxes”
(Old Maid Entertainment)

Welcome to the world of rapper/producer J-Zone, where Lucy Liu is queen, statutory rape knocks are a constant concern, and cock-blocking spoken-word artists might be the only people lower than freeloading music-downloaders (you know who you are, don’t even front). “Pimps Don’t Pay Taxes” is idiosyncrasy at its finest- you sort of feel like you’ve gotten to know J-Zone and his quirks, not only through his rhymes, but through his beats, which prove J-Zone to be second only to Prince Paul in the obscure and wacky sample department (check “Stroke Happy”- where the hell did Zone find those records?). The other Old Maid Billionaires also hold it down on the mic- Huggy Bear is a trip in the role of “Thug Penis” on “The Trojan War,” but equally nice on “No Consequences,” while Al-Shid shows off a relaxed flow on “190” and “Metrocard Millionaires.” In that it differs from most everything else out there by being a fun, light hearted album, “Pimps Don’t Pay Taxes” is slightly reminiscent of De La Soul’s classic “3 Feet High and Rising,” even though Zone doesn’t exactly fit into the category of “conscious” rap pioneered by De La- see “The Bum-Bitch Ballad” and “Ms. Platonic Part 2,” in which a newly-flossy J-Zone entices an old lady-friend with a trip to the mall, then returns everything he’s bought her after he’s finished “tearing her back out.” Ouch. “Pimps Don’t Pay Taxes” is sometimes weird but undeniably hilarious- definitely a worthwhile offering.

C-Train