Jay Worthy – “Once Upon a Time” review

Here is the double full-length studio debut from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada born albeit Compton, California raised emcee Jay Worthy. Coming on my radar in 2017 after The Alchemist produced his debut EP Fantasy Island from top to bottom, he would go onto drop 5 more EPs & a fantastic collab album with Larry June called 2 P’z in a Pod even though initial plans of putting it out through Griselda Records fell through for whatever reason. Harry Fraud produced You Take the Credit, We’ll Take the Check & DJ Muggs did What They Hittin’ 4 to significant acclaim, but the Roc Marciano-produced Nothing Bigger Than the Program was still good despite having too many features & the DāM-FunK produced Magic Hour improved on that as did The Tonite Show 2 entirely produced by DJ Fresh last fall. Almost a decade in the making however, Once Upon a Time has finally arrived.

After the “Beginning” intro, the first song “‘96 Big Body” gets the ball rollin’ with a smooth ass beat recalling the days when he was driving around in this fresh whip 3 decades earlier whereas “The Only 1” featuring Kamaiyah works in a Mobb beat from Cardo addresses those who thought they were the only pimps around. “For the Homies” produced by DJ Quik sends a shoutout to all of those in their lives who can’t be here leading into the g-funk heavy “Rekkless” looking back at his youth.

“Open Minded” instrumentally reminds me of something The Neptunes would’ve produced in the early/mid 2000s praising his girl for keeping that exact type of mentality while “From the Jump” featuring E-40, Jim Jones, Ohgeesy & Wiz Khalifa brings the quintet together over a DJ Fresh beat or Harry Fraud on the remix talking about how long they’ve been putting it down. “Dark Tints” featuring 03 Greedo strips the drums thanks to Conductor Williams refusing to stop what they started while “Famous Players” slickly gets in his pimp bag.

As for “Tides”, we have Jay Worthy on top of a drumlessly summery instrumental with lyrics about wanting a woman that he’s never even met by his side while “Bellagio” featuring Conway the Machine charismatically flexes of making music for the famous Las Vegas, Nevada hotel of the same name. “Choosing Shoes” featuring Boldy James keeps the drums out the equation painting imagery of the gangsta lifestyle while “2P’z” featuring Larry June recaptures the aura of their 2022 collab effort.

“True Story” featuring Ty$ starts the final moments of Disc 1 by touching on some real life shit over a Hit-Boy beat while “The Outcome” featuring Ab-Soul, Dave East & Westside Gunn unites the quartet for a 4 & a half minute barfest accompanied by a sample-heavy beat that The Alchemist cooked up real realizing that this is the very moment where he & guests should observe the results. “Jive 95” featuring Bun B & Spice 1 after the “Skrappordie” interlude opens Disc 2 to go by the cheat code while “Daytons” featuring Mack 10 gives a fuck you to all of the haters they have.

Wallie the Sensei joins Worthy for the Mobb-inspired “Know My Worth” waking up to the money since they don’t know if being broke or dead is worse while “Escape from LA” featuring B-Legit & Jay 305 comes together for a Bay Area tribute. “Sake” featuring Curren$y talks about feeling more like they’re vacation rather than being on the run while the drumless “Blade Runner” featuring Roc Marciano refers to themselves as big game hunters.

“I’ll Be Fine” featuring Vicasso hops over a g-funk beat to talk about their diametric approach to making music while the funky “Gang Shit” reunited with DJ Muggs so he can admit that he doesn’t like stunt because of his humbleness. “Bix in the Morning” featuring Ice-T heavily samples “6 ‘N tha Mornin’” for a generational gangsta rap crossover while “P-Funkentelechy” sends a love letter to Parliament-Funkadelic.

The track “Angel Dust” starts Once Upon a Time’s final act with a psychedelic Thundercat instrumental talking about PCP while the jazzy “Worthy vs. Getty” recalls a story that occurred in 2003. Prior to the “End” outro however, “Runnin’ Outta Time” is what officially finishes responding to people who think they know him by saying that he doesn’t recognize them from his hood with Terrace Martin playing piano.

Although What They Hittin’ 4 still remains my personal favorite entry in Jay Worthy’s discography, there’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that the 30 song & almost 90 minute Once Upon a Time sticks out as the most star-studded musical opus he’s ever conceived. Bridging the east & the west coast with its admirably versatile guest list, the production mostly takes its cues from the westside to cohesively tell a story of authentically resilient ambition.

Score: 4.5/5

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Jay Worthy & MadeinTYO – “Time After Time” review

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada born albeit Compton, California raised emcee Jay Worthy as well as Honolulu, Hawaii born/Tokyo, Japan raised rapper, singer & producer MadeinTYO joining forces for a new collaborative EP fully produced by the latter. One of whom has been grinding in the underground for the last 7 years & the other landing a spot in the 2017 XXL Freshman Class producing Ransom’s latest EP Smoke & Mirrors earlier this summer. However, Mr. Tokyo’s continuing to apply pressure by linking up with Jay for Time After Time.

After the intro, the first song “Master Delux” is a drumless opener to the EP with both of them provide the soundtrack to motherfuckers making bread whereas “Nino” jazzily keeps the drums out the picture boasting that the paper be doing double flips in their dreams. “School Daze” hops over yet another bare jazz loop refusing to lay up having work to do prior to “Chop” drumlessly talking about having the milk & not referring to dairy whatsoever.

“Fashion Week” maintains the jazz rap vibes working some drums in this time hoping that God forgives them for their fortunes & after the interlude, “London Carry-On” goes drumless again keeping extra sugar in their sweet tea. The final song “Antiqua Barrio” telling wack MCs to get off the mic being black as they are Off-White & the outro finishes the EP with a 3-minute instrumental piece.

Like I said a couple months ago during the Smoke & Mirrors review: I’ve never considered himself a MadeinTYO fan other than maybe “Uber Everywhere”, but he & Jay Worthy cooked up a collab EP that’s as enjoyable as THE AM3RICAN DREAM. His production’s more jazzier than it was on the Ransom EP keeping it prominently drumless in addition to that & lyrically, he & Jay Worthy ping off each other impressively during the course of the 24 minutes you get out of Time After Time.

Score: 4/5

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Jay Worthy – “Magic Hour” review

This is the 5th mixtape from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada born albeit Compton, California raised emcee Jay Worthy. Coming on my radar in 2017 after The Alchemist produced his debut EP Fantasy Island from top to bottom, he would go onto drop 5 more EPs & a fantastic collab album with Larry June called 2 P’z in a Pod even though initial plans of putting it out through Griselda Records fell through for whatever reason. Harry Fraud produced You Take the Credit, We’ll Take the Check & DJ Muggs did What They Hittin’ 4 to significant acclaim, but the Roc Marciano-produced Nothing Bigger Than the Program was still good despite having too many features. Once I heard DāM-FunK was producing Magic Hour top to bottom, I was hoping it would surpass the predecessor from 14 months ago.

“San Dimas” featuring G Perico starts off on some flawless g-funk shit asking if you’re turned the fuck in at this point whereas “Westside” delves further into the relax & organic sound featuring live instrumentation, use of P-Funk samples & high-pitched synth lines to represent California to the fullest. “Rich Today” embraces the g-funk sound heavier talking about how it ain’t nothing to a pimp like him just before “Boogie” featuring the late Nate Dogg’s son NHale builds upon Nate’s sound that he was the King of spitting that g shit continuing his dad’s tradition.

Meanwhile on “Can’t Do That”, we have Worthy mellowly slickly talking about being on his MJ shit & on a new bag at this point in his career ahead of the spacious g-funk banger “105 West” featuring Channel Tres, DJ Quik & Ty$ for all the party people to slide to. “It’s So Hard” featuring Obsce Chill keeping the gangsta funk alive staying in the ghetto like Too $hort explaining the hardships of being a g, but then “Untouchable” featuring P-Lo futuristically advises that this joint in particular is exclusively for the playas.

After the “Olde 8 Again” interlude, “Heartstop” featuring Channel Tres goes into synth-funk turf explaining that their hearts legitimately stop when they don’t get to see one another while the beat on “Connected” featuring Barney Bones gives me Rainbow Road Mario Kart vibes instrumentally flexing the ties they have. “Bounce” featuring Soopafly takes you a whole millennium head to the future for a joint to the west to bounce to while the g-funk track “Watch Your Tone” advises to do simply that around them.

“Caught Up” heavily builds itself around synthesizers as a way of nearing the conclusion of Magic Hour while “Let You Go” featuring $ha Hef brings the East/West emcees together over a g-funk beat breaking the news to their significant others that they’re cutting off romantic ties with one another going forward. Last but not least, “Can’t Fade the Funk” ends the album charmingly gets self-explanatory for 1 last song showing P dabbling in DāM’s production style.

It was a bit disappointing that Nothing Bigger Than the Program was overloaded with features considering that Marci proved his status as a underrated producer on Marciology earlier on in the year but anyway, I’m finding myself preferring Magic Hour more in comparison. DāM-FunK’s production as one would expect fully embraces the g-funk sound Dr. Dre popularized in the 90s & conceptually, Jay’s paying homage to the roots of west coast hip hop in a modern way.

Score: 4/5

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Jay Worthy & Kamaiyah – “THE AM3RICAN DREAM” review

This is a brand new collaborative EP between Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada born albeit Compton, California raised emcee Jay Worthy alongside Oakland recording artist Kamaiyah. Both of whom have crossed paths with one another on previous singles like “Bullshit” & “Good Lookin’” throughout the duration of these last 3 years, but both west coast spitters are now looking to take things to the next level by enlisting Brooklyn beatsmith Harry Fraud behind the boards to fully produce THE AM3RICAN DREAM.

“9AM” is a triumphantly soulful kickstarter talking about the pigs knocking on their doors at 9am pacific time or noon eastern since both emcees are out in Cali whereas “Money in the Bag” has a jazzier boom bap flare talking about making that bread. “Pressure” featuring Buddy & Guapdad 4000 finds the quartet joining forces takes a groovier route admitting freaks they type, but then “Good Shit” featuring Max B flips another soul sample talking about smoking that good weed.

To start the 2nd half of the EP, “Pull Up” brings in the funk for an irresistibly fun party-starter just before “Entrepreneur” goes for a cloudier approach cautioning that shit’s gonna be getting real scary. “Figueroa Fortunes” references the luxuries of the major north-south street in Los Angeles County while “Ragtop Riches” gives me a bit of a summer feeling talking about being the highway dippin’. “Streetlights” lastly closes out this EP by asking what you would do for the spotlight over a chopped up soul flip.

It’s no 2 P’z in a Pod, but what we got here is more than worthy of further solidifying THE AM3RICAN DREAM as the 2nd best collab effort in Jay Worthy’s discography as of me writing this & the strongest I’ve heard Kamaiyah in a while. They build off one another impressively considering they’re both westside representers, the features are all well picked out & Harry Fraud’s production elevates both lyricists’ chemistry.

Score: 4/5

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Jay Worthy – “Nothing Bigger Than the Picture” review

Jay Worthy is a 37 year old MC born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada & raised in Compton, California who caught my attention in 2017 after The Alchemist produced his debut EP Fantasy Island from top to bottom. He would go onto drop 5 more EPs & just put out a fantastic collab album with Larry June over a year ago called 2 P’z in a Pod even though initial plans of putting it out through Griselda Records fell through for whatever reason. But Jay’s looking to come off the Harry Fraud-produced You Take the Credit, We’ll Take the Check & the DJ Muggs-produced sophomore effort What They Hittin’ 4 by enlisting Long Island veteran Roc Marciano behind the boards throughout the duration of his 3rd mixtape.

After the intro, the first song “Underground Legends” featuring Bun B kicks things off rightfully declaring themselves as such with a drumless loop accompanying them in the background whereas the title track with A$ton Matthews calling this the shit you see only in gangsta movies with a slicker instrumental. “The Field” featuring Jay 305 brings in the drums & a Middle Eastern sample as they both pray for those still in the trenches until “The Plug” featuring Ab-Soul jumps on top of some pianos & choir vocals talking about being resources for obtaining something valuable that would otherwise be difficult to obtain.

Marc joins Jay on the mic for “Wake Up” spitting that fly shit with a luxurious beat just before “My Own 2” featuring A$AP Ant & former 2x NBA All-Star Baron Davis has a soulful, jazzier flare to it as they bring to you a day in their lives. “How?” keeps the soul in tact addressing those who always want to know his background & how he reps the CPT even though he was born in Vancouver by telling them not to worry about it since it really doesn’t concern them whatsoever, but then “Players Only” has a triumphantly wavier feel to it talking about how life been different.

The song “Simple Man” featuring Kurupt make it clear to understand that they only want the money with a glossy, drumless instrumental backing them while the penultimate track “The Huddle” featuring Baron Davis brings back the horns & soul sample so all the real ones can click up declaring trouble for all the fakes out there. “Fur Coat Talk” featuring Da$h on the other hand sends off the album on a jazzier note as they discuss minks if you couldn’t already tell by the title of the closer.

I’ve been hearing some people online still calling Jay a boring MC oddly enough considering that he’s been at his best for the past year after putting out 2 P’z in a Pod with Larry alongside his previous couple solo albums & Nothing Bigger Than the Program continues that trajectory if you ask me. Sure one can complain about the amount of features & their performances kinda being 50/50, but the bars from Jay himself continue to elevate solidly over Marci’s signature production style.

Score: 3.5/5

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Jay Worthy – “What They Hittin’ 4” review

This is the 3rd mixtape from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada born albeit Compton, California raised emcee Jay Worthy. Being introduced to him in 2017 after The Alchemist produced his debut EP Fantasy Island from top to bottom, he would go onto drop 5 more EPs & a fantastic collab album with Larry June back in March called 2 P’z in a Pod even though initial plans of putting it out through Griselda Records fell through for whatever reason. Dude just put out the Harry Fraud-produced You Take the Credit, We’ll Take the Check a few months back & is now enlisting DJ Muggs of Cypress Hill behind the boards for What They Hittin’ 4.

“We Don’t Die Here” is a calm jazz rap opener talking about “live & let live” along with how you’re supposed to fly if you’re eternal like him whereas “95” takes a more rugged approach declaring himself to be a westside original which accurate considering that the CPT is a here he grew up. “The Gentleman” works in a bare soul sample so Jay can show a more classy side to himself just before “In New York” has a more cheery tone to it talking about his experiences in the Big Apple.

Meanwhile on “Thuggin’ (Psychedelic Ism)”, we have Jay reflects on what happened when he hit a tab of acid on top of a drumless yet synth-heavy instrumental leading into “Sweet Lies (Kiss the Sky)” returning to the boom bap talking about how it feels good inside to be deceived & needing to take his time. T.F tags along for “The Wine Connoisseur” returning to a more jazz-influenced sound expressing their love for wine & after the “Duccky’s Home” skit, MC Eiht comes into the picture for the dusty “A-Wax & O-Dog” talking about how real shit can get.

The song “This is It” with 211 has a spacier groove to it discussing getting anything they want with only a flick of a wrist while the penguin track “I Don’t Wanna Rap” goes into a more sunnier vibe instrumentally talking about wanting to relax. “Bitch I Miss You” however ends the album with a beat that sounds exactly like “No Blood No Sweat” by Mach-Hommy to reflect on a former lover of his that he genuinely misses.

In the 5 years I’ve been following this dude, What They Hittin’ 4 has to be my favorite thing he’s ever done & would absolutely recommend it to those who weren’t feeling his performances on the previous full-length he put out a few months ago. He comes a lot harder on the mic this time around to me personally & the production that Muggs cooks up here is a lot more varied in sound in contrast to the ruggedness of let’s say Rigz’ latest album Gold for example.

Score: 4.5/5

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Jay Worthy – “You Take the Credit, We’ll Take the Check” review

Jay Worthy is a 36 year old MC born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada & raised in Compton, California who caught my attention in 2017 after The Alchemist produced his debut EP Fantasy Island from top to bottom. He would go onto drop 5 more EPs & just put out a fantastic collab album with Larry June back in March called 2 P’z in a Pod even though initial plans of putting it out through Griselda Records fell through for whatever reason, but is now reuniting with Harry Fraud for his 2nd mixtape.

“Believe” is a classy opener talking about how he did it whereas the soulful “Pacific Coast Highway” with Larry June confessing that they’re married to the hustle. “Good Lookin’” takes a funkier route as Kamaiyah tags along to talk about how you have to pay for their time just before the Conway the Machine-assisted “Helicopter Homicide” works in some lush guitar licks so both MCs can kill shit lyrically.

Meanwhile on “Tonight”, we have Harry taking back to the 80s instrumentally with Jay verbally harassing all the peons out there leading into Curren$y coming into the picture for “Editorials” talking about the rebirth of Max Julien & gunning your spot over a well-flipped sample. “Daytons” featuring Ramirez layers a harmonica on some crooning vocals expressing their desire to take trips & break hoes, but then “Almighty” returns to soulful turf talking about how he been through it.

The vibraphone/boom bap combo throughout “Stickup Kids” is a nice touch with Detroit’s very own BandGang Lonnie Bands joining Jay in recalling them knocking people down before getting involved with hip hop while “Earth Sky” with MadeinTYO talking about all their homies who’re not here with them anymore. “Monday Motivation” has a funkier flare to it providing words of wisdom going into the new week while the song “Winnipeg Winters” with A$AP 12vy brings in a harmonious loop talking about being them dudes homing t. The penultimate track “6 Figure Strolls” with $ha Hef brags that they made $100k off 1 hoe over a shimmery instrumental & to finish off the album, the sound of “St. Nick the P” is more guitar-heavy talking about being worldwide.

Anticipation for this tape was very high for me personally considering that Eat When You’re Hungry, Sleep When You’re Tired has to be one of my favorite EPs that Jay has put out & I think this is yet another example of a sequel that living up to or surpassing the expectations set by the original. Harry Fraud’s production is more varied compared to the mobb-inspired 2 P’z in a Pod, the features are fantastically consistent & Jay himself comes through with some of his hardest verses he’s ever laid.

Score: 4/5

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Jay Worthy & Larry June – “2 P’z in a Pod” review

This is a brand new collaborative album between California emcees Jay Worthy & Larry June. One hails straight outta L.A. & the other being from San Francisco, but these guys have been working with each other for a little over 5 years now ever since the Chuck Inglish-produced loosie “On Sight”. The last time we heard them together was “Survival Series ‘95” off the 2nd disc of Hitler Wears Hermes VIII: Sincerely Adolf but with the help of Sean House behind the boards, Jay & Larry are finally giving the world 2 P’z in a Pod.

After the “Bad Things ” intro, the first song “Vanilla Cream” opens the album up with a cloudy ode to their lifestyles whereas “Big Funds” takes a funkier route talking about their wealth. “Sock It 2 Me” works in some electro influences to describe a bonafide hoe just before Roc Marciano tags along for the g-funk heavy “Maybe the Next Time” to talk about being playas with a soulful hook.

After the “How 2 Knock” interlude, we have Jay & Larry describing living life fast the glossy “Leave It Up to Me” leading into the recently romantic “She’s Not Around”. The track “Hotel Bel-Air” incorporates a symphony to talk about not being afraid of change & prior to the Bag Connection” outro, the final song “Late Nights” ends the album with Jim Jones coming into the picture to jump on top of a rich beat talking about their significant others being on their minds.

These guys always kill it when you get to hear them together & if you’re a hardcore fan of either one of them, then I highly recommend checking 2 P’z in a Pod out. Sean House cooks up some of the best production of his career with Jay & Larry taking their chemistry to the next level.

Score: 4/5