Jewelz Review

07/13/2005 6:13 AM, AMG


D.I.T.C. cohort OC returned in 1997 with his second full length LP, titled Jewelz, and that is exactly what it is. Even though his 1995 debut was well-received within the hip-hop community, the same adulation did not correlate to sales success. Instead of succumbing to mainstream pressure, OC kept his music street-based, and the listeners reap the benefits of that high quality. With a production roster of top-flight NY producers (Premier, Buckwild, Da Beatminerz, Showbiz, Lord Finesse and Ogee) your ears never get a rest. "My World" sets it off and of the four cuts Primo contributed, this shines brightest: "My skills ill and all of that above/Confidence I'm not worried about a street buzz/I'm OC who you I never heard a ya/Get out my face before I turn into a mother*uckin murderer/I want the green like endo/A mansion a car/A wife who's never been a bimbo/Too much to ask well to me that's simple/Wanna retire on a yacht called 'the S.S. Minnow'." "Win the G" teams OC with Freddie Foxx (one of the two tracks the pair collaborate on) over yet another Primo track. "Dangerous" is a party-type cut with OC and Big L flipping verses back and forth over a Beatminerz track. OC is truly one of the most skilled MCs in the business, and if he dropped a few cuts catered to radio we would probably hear more from him -- but here's hoping he never goes that route. Like OC said in his classic single, "Time's Up": "I'd rather be broke and have a whole lot of respect." ~ Matt Conaway, All Music Guide