Don’t sleep on this beat tape from Jansport J. It was released on May 10th this year. Jansport J has actually released a beat tape every single month since December of last year. He’s already dropped two more projects since this one came out. Normally I’d be against someone dropping so much music, but I think it’s more of an issue for rappers than producers. Since every single project Jansport J has dropped has been good, I can’t really complain. If I had to rank the projects he’s dropped in 2019 that I’ve actually heard so far from worst to best, I’d say goslow., then staytrue., then yeaaight., and then heavylight. heavylight. is great. The other ones are all good too though. At first my dumbass thought goslow. was pronounced as “gozz-low,” but I eventually realized that it’s just the words “go slow” with zero spaces. Anyway, this project in particular starts off with a really pretty title track. It actually kinda reminds me of Kendrick Lamar’s How Much a Dollar Cost? I don’t know why exactly. It’s a pretty great track though. The next song, Breakdown, isn’t quite as entertaining to me, but it’s still solid. It’s just not super interesting. I like it though. The melodic loop is a little repetitive, but the track is thankfully pretty short. That’s one thing Jansport J does well. Rarely do any of his tracks overstay their welcome. He doesn’t give you time to get bored of them. The third track, shychild [4 the introverts], is one of the better tracks in my opinion. It’s another soulful beat. It’s followed by one of my favorite tracks on the project, canufeelitbby? This one stands out because it actually sounds very different from the other songs. It sounds like it takes more influence from Funk music, unlike the other tracks that are Soul & R&B influenced. I think that song is dope af. The fifth song, Float, is definitely one of my least favorites. It’s got a very simplistic and repetitive loop. I still kind of enjoyed it to some extent, but it feels pretty underwhelming, especially when you consider the song it follows. redlights is thankfully much better. The loop is still pretty repetitive, but it’s just not as lackluster in my opinion. It’s actually an enjoyable loop. The previous one was just kinda stale. Track seven, pick me, is another one of my favorites. Once again, the loop is pretty repetitive; it’s just better than most of the others. I’m not completely sure what stringed instrument that is, but if I had to guess I’d probably say it’s a harp. I’m probably wrong about that though. The next song is called bussabuss. I guess it’s dedicated to Busta Rhymes. I’m not completely sure about that. It’s a very simplistic beat with another repetitive loop. I think the main focus is the actual percussion. The other aspects of the beat don’t really stand out much. I actually like this beat a lot though. I think Benny the Butcher or maybe Freddie Gibbs would sound awesome over it. Of course Busta Rhymes would be good too. It’s a dope track. Track 9 is another one of the better tracks too. Again, I’m not great at talking about beats, so I don’t have too much to say about it. It’s not dramatically different from most of the other beats. I just like it more because the instrumentation in the material he’s sampling is more pleasant to me than a lot of the others. It’s a great track. Track 10, ngawitattitude, is quite possibly my favorite song on the whole album. It’s just a really awesome beat. The beat just makes me feel warm inside. It makes me feel like I’m watching a sunset. I love it. It’s dope af. The next track, mom’s prayers, is another pretty great track that elicits a warm feeling in me. I could totally see Mick Jenkins using this beat. Especially when he was on that “love everyone” shit with his debut album. It’s not my favorite song, but it’s definitely a standout track. The final track is probably my least favorite song. The actual loop is fine. My main issue is just the length. As I said earlier, Jansport J rarely overstays his welcome with his beats. This track is called dowithoutyou [Extended] though, so for whatever reason he decided to extend this track to almost five minutes. Obviously I would’ve preferred the regular non-extended version. The song is still good though. I still like it. In fact, I like every single track on the project. I like every song on all the other tapes I’ve heard from him this year too. I think this is a great project, and it’s on par with heavylight. in my opinion. I don’t know which one I prefer. I’d have to think about it. They’re both great tapes though. This shit is really dope. Jansport J’s beats kinda sound like if J Dilla was trying to make the kinda beats you’d hear on those “chill lo-fi anime beats to study to” videos that are on YouTube. If that sounds like something you’d dig, check this project out. If you like it, I suggest checking out the other tapes he dropped this year as well because they’re all good. This is definitely one of the better ones though. It’s dope.

Favorite Song: ngawitattitude
Least Favorite Song: dowithoutyou [Extended]

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