Jehst – “Mork Calling Orson” review

Jehst is a 43 year old graffiti writer, MC & producer from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom introducing himself by dropping an EP called Premonitions through his own label YNR Productions based out of London. He would go on to drop High Plains Drifter along with his debut album The Return of the Drifter & the sophomore effort Falling Down under the Leeds imprint Low Life Records, following the latter up with the Mengi Bus mixtape & the Nuke Proof Suitextended play. The Dragon of an Ordinary Familyas well as Billy Green’s Dead & Heathens would all come out independently as a result of Low Life’s collapse, returning for his 5th studio LP.

“Cornerstone” starts with this symphonic boom bap beat produced by Sonnyjim talking about being a foundation of the UK hip hop movement when there are no lies being spoken whereas “You” works in some pianos admitting he doesn’t give a fuck regarding this person who isn’t anything like him whatsoever. The self-produced “Footsteps” takes a jazzier boom bap approach instrumentally becoming unsure in the midst of finding his way back home while “Lonely World” featuring SINDYSMAN finds the 2 talking about finding hope over a Sam Zircon beat.

Meanwhile on “Wild Herb”, we have Jehst exploring a bit of a g-funk sound for a look inside of his kaleidoscope leading into “Doctor” talking about life getting lonely without having anyone to hold down & him getting older. “Daily Planet” featuring Confucius MC finds the 2 linking up so they can observe the insanity occurring every single day just before “Flight to L.A.” embraces a more soulful sound thanks to Beat Butcha talking about wanting to hit up the west coast.

“Autumn Nights” featuring Confucius MC drumlessly reunites the pair to discuss making something out of nothing being a part of their daily lives while “1 Horse Town” featuring both Confucius MC & Eva Lazarus brings the trio together hoping a spot is saved in the areas they each call home. “Front Door” takes a slower approach in generally talking about looking out to find the antidote blowing ganja smoke & “Skylines” stripping the drums 1 last time asking who’s to blame for the thoughts polluting his brain.

Heavily sampling the Paramount Skydance Corporation owned sitcom Mork & Mindy, the YNR Productions founder continues to unlock Jehst’s superpower of making the melancholic incisively slice through all before him revisiting topics he’s explored in the past broken down from a brand new perspective. The production’s more jazzier & boom bap instead of continuing the experimentations of Billy Green’s Dead, employing a slower flow & reaching a typically supreme standard of syllables & similes over 2 decades later.

Score: 4/5

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Jehst – “Heathens” review

Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom graffiti writer, MC & producer Jehst dropping his 4th EP. Introducing himself by releasing an EP called Premonitions through his own label YNR Productions based out of London. He would go on to drop High Plains Drifter along with his debut album The Return of the Drifter & the sophomore effort Falling Down under the Leeds imprint Low Life Records, following the latter up with the Mengi Bus mixtape & the Nuke Proof Suit extended play. Coming off The Dragon of an Ordinary Family as well as the experimental Billy Green’s Dead, he’s compiling 4 tracks ahead of his next LP.

The title track gives off a dusty boom bap suggesting the younger artists must’ve thought he was born yesterday whereas “420 Every Day” works in a horn sample to talk about smoking weed daily. “State of the Union” gets the 2nd half of Heathens going with my favorite track here, hopping over a boom bap instrumental from Pitch 92 to letting off shots using his pen & “Body Bag” wraps things up angrily asking if anyone’s looking for a war they can’t win.

I believe there’s a good chance High Plains Drifterwill always remain my favorite EP in Jehst’s discography, but I’d have to rank Heathens as the weakest of the 4 placing it behind Nuke Proof Suit & Premonitions. However, I don’t want to mislead anyone into thinking I’m trying to call this wack when it’s one of the more average entries in his catalog. His penmanship isn’t an issue, although the production dividing itself between boom bap & the experimentations of Billy Green’s Dead could’ve been stronger than I hoped for.

Score: 3/5

Jehst – “Billy Green’s Dead” review

Here is the 4th studio LP from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom graffiti writer, MC & producer Jehst. Introducing himself by releasing an extended play called Premonitions through his own label YNR Productions based out of London. He would go on to drop High Plains Drifter along with his debut album The Return of the Drifter & the sophomore effort Falling Down under the Leeds imprint Low Life Records, following the latter up with the Mengi Bus mixtape & the Nuke Proof Suit EP. Coming off The Dragon of an Ordinary Family, he’s declaring Billy Green’s Dead.

The self-produced “Billy Green’s Theme” intro opens up with our main character desiring to be like the late Notorious B.I.G. & 2Pac in terms of a successful rap career prior to “So Far to Go” brings Paul White behind the boards experimentally talking about life being what happens when you’re making other plans. “Good Robot” puts us inside the shoes of a humanoid machine serving the economy worshipping money like it’s God while “Kennedy” featuring Confucius MC finds the pair getting conspiratorial.

Jyager appears on “Household Name” produced by Beat Butcha asking themselves whether or not they’ll be remembered for their music when it’s time to hang it up just before “44th Floor” hops over a Dr. Zygote instrumental to talk about a man on the verge of taking his own life. “City Streets” continues the 2nd half getting in the zone over a sample echoing behind him while “Set in Stone” talks about explaining himself to an individual unwilling to listen.

“Smoke Screen” featuring Mr. Thing discusses hiding themselves from the world as it is while “Jonestown” by the Kingdom of Fear featuring Eric Biddines intelligently talks about cult leaders. “Eulogy” has a psychedelic groove to it addressing his loved ones from beyond the grave & after the “Remembrance” interlude filled with spoken word voicemails, the closing track “Billy Green is Alive!” featuring Confucius MC & Jyager properly concludes the full-length talking about eternal life.

Some would say Billy Green’s Dead rivals The Return of the Drifter in becoming Jehst’s magnum opus & I might not agree with that necessarily because Falling Down’s a close 2nd, but there’s no denying the YNR founder’s place amongst the most impactful UK hip hop artists of all-time containing a short yet sweet catalog. The boom bap production’s a tad bit more experimental than his earlier output, conceptually following our everyman protagonist on his solitary journey across an individualistically uncaring world.

Score: 3.5/5