Chester French | Jacques Jams Vol. 1 (Endurance) Mixtape
April 8th, 2009
I would have posted this a few hours ago, but I’m glad I didn’t. I decided to run to lunch, iPod in hand loaded with Chester French’s debut mixtape, Jacques James Vol. 1: Endurance. I listened to all the tracks leaking off this mixtape weeks prior, and at first listen, they were good, but nothing for me to rave about. After giving this whole project a run through, I’d have to say it is one of the most well put together and best sounding debut mixtapes I have ever run across.
For all those who profess Lupe Fiasco’s Cool was some sort of “concept album” please take a listen to Jacques Jams Vol. 1. The whole mix revolves around the comedic narrative of Chester French; Starting as gym jocks in the pursuit of “endurance” and women, but then realize being creative and starting a band maybe an easier route to some female attention and fame. This is their journey, each song with its own personality and theme, spiced up with a all-star cast of talent: Pharrell, Bun B, Wale, Janelle Monae, Karindal Offishal, Push-T, Common & more. It features a half-dozen hilarious skits, written better than half the sitcoms on television & reminiscent of the original young pranksters, the Beastie Boys. The sound is progressive to say the least, you’ll hear the most creative verses traded on pro-tools in quite some time, its heavy on the synths but with punk-ska flavor, high-pitch funky hooks & it’s just damn sexy in places.
In their words:
“Jacques Jams, Vol. 1: Endurance” is a chronicle of the past six years of our lives. It tells our story, from the gymnasiums of Harvard to the hills of Hollywood. Unlike “Love the Future,” which we’ve written, arranged, performed, produced, and engineered by ourselves, “Jacques Jams” features a collection of new, original music that we created in the hills of Massachusetts and then invited some of our favorite artists to grace.
As young artists, we couldn’t be more grateful for this opporunity to collaborate with legends like Jermaine Dupri, Diddy, Pharrell, Pusha, Talib Kweli, Bun B., The Mad Rapper, Kardinal Offishall, N.O.R.E, and Jadakiss as well as younger friends like Janelle Monae, Cassie, Wale, Solange, Lady Gaga, and Mickey Factz. All of these fantastic artists have been more than generous with their creativity and hard work, so we owe them an enormous debt. Clinton Sparks, above all, has tirelessly guided us toward success and endurance, a tall order with obnoxious perfectionists like us!”
This mixtape is smart, but what would you expect from two Harvard students? There’s more college experience here than an Asher Roth single. All that and its offered as a free download… give it a listen, I bet you would have been down to drop a Hamilton on it. I threw some of my favorite tracks down below.
Download: Sharebee
via New Music Cartel, 2dbz
Track Listing: (after the jump)
Track Listing:
CHAPTER 1: Starting A Band
2. 2 Mans starring Solange
3. Skit: “Sick Party”
4. No Parents Allowed starring N.O.R.E. & Kardinal Offishall
5. Out At The Compound
CHAPTER 2: Trying To Be Cool
6. Skit: “Chloe Jones” starring Cassie
7. The Jimmy Choos
8. Campus Kingpin starring Pusha of The Clipse
9. I’m So Tall starring Bun B., Talib Kweli & Mickey Factz
CHAPTER 3: Realizing Being A Nerd Is Cool
10. Skit: “E-piphany”
11. Nerd Girl starring Janelle Monae
12. Skit: “Going to LA, Holmes”
CHAPTER 4: Arriving In LALA Land
13. Skit: “It’s All For You”
14. What A World with Common (Produced by Pharrell Williams)
15. She Loves Everybody
16. Skit: “Get Familiar” starring Ben Lyons & Clinton Sparks
17. Ciroc Star starring Diddy & Jadakiss
18. Skit: “Mad Rapper”
19. Lady GaGa “Love Game” (Exclusive Chester French Remix)
CHAPTER 5: Becoming A Douche Bag
20. Skit: “Losing Yourself”
21. I’m Sorry starring Wale
22. Skit: “Endurance Lost”
23. Life in LA starring Pharrell Williams & Jermaine Dupri
CHAPTER 6: Regaining Your Hard On
24. C’mon (On My Own)
CHAPTER 7: “Love The Future”
Their debut album, Love The Future is out on April 21st… hopefully its as creative as this project.
Chester French - "Campus Kingpin" ft. Pusha T (of Clipse): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Chester French - "I'm So Tall" ft. Bun B, Talib Kweli, & Mickey Factz: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Chester French - "Nerd Girl" ft. Janelle Monae: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
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In the past Clinton Sparks always equals crap and listening to these songs prove that. If the tracks were in the vain of “Nerd Girl” it would be half way decent.
It’s so sad to see Kweli chase after the hipster fad crowd and why is it when someone makes song with computer generated noise in it they label it “progressive”? What’s so progressive about that? They have been doing that since the late 70’s. Adding computer generated noise to song isn’t any more progressive that making a song with drum machine or using a vocoder. All three have been done since the late 70’s
Comment by Hamza21 — April 10, 2009 @ 1:43 pm
By your definition my mans, nothing is new or progressive. Kweli is trying to connect to a new fan base cause his backpackers have done moved on, theres been a solid consensus over the last 4 years that he’s over with, and he’s barely starting to move his career again despite whatever image he portrays with Blacksmith Records.
Comment by Gopi — April 10, 2009 @ 3:11 pm
Talib over with? that’s one probelms that emreged when white suburban youth strated dominating Hip Hop sales.If you don’t cater into rebellion thing and “new and different” than you over with. Thank God many of great Hip Hoppers came before that happened. Imagine not being able to see Big Daddy Kane or even Common in concert because they don’t cater white suburbia. That’s one reason Rakim hasn’t released a record or even have record deal.
Comment by Hamza21 — April 10, 2009 @ 7:28 pm
1) Suburban Youth have ALWAYS dominated commercial hip hop sales, and when I say commercial I ain’t talking Jeezy, I’m talking LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, RUN DMC & the likes.
2) It’s always a rebellion, its always a revolution, There’s always a progression in music. Does Schooly D sound ANYTHING like Big Daddy Kane? Absolutely not, are they both greats? Sure. Does Common of “I Poker Her Face” sound anything like Common of “I Used to Love H.E.R.”… hahaha…
3) This is the era of the “Long Tail” & Globalization. There is no such thing as Industry consuming entertainment corporations forcing artists catering to the “White Market”, the “Urban Market” or “Suburban Market” those are all outdated terms… now you own your own career, your market (fan base) has to be a direct and genuine reflection of you & your artistic direction, OR ELSE there’s nothing stopping your fan finding that niche with the next internet equipped musician. And if your a fan of an obscure artist or style there’s nothing in your way to consuming their product other than your ability to do alittle google search, and their ability to drop $100 at CD Baby to get their CD listed onto iTunes.
Talib’s genuine “non-white”, “non-surburban” fans had plenty of opportunity to invest in his career before he started explore other avenues of creative direction… but they didn’t and now he’s doing what he has to do to grab their attention back or find a new fan base.
Comment by Gopi — April 11, 2009 @ 1:57 pm