Rating:
  Review Date: April 13, 2008
  Website: Sunspot Jonz Website
  Label: HBD LABEL GROUP

Sunspot Jonz “Never Surrender” Album Review
Last week was a big week for the Living Legends crew. On April 8, the group’s compilation album, “The Gathering EP,” dropped alongside The Grouch’s long-awaited “Show You The World.” And personally, I was one of the many people who were amped. At 6 a.m. on the 8th, I logged onto my iTunes store to download both albums so I could listen to them during the long train ride to work. But when I went to purchase, something jumped out at me. Under related albums, I saw a listing for Sunspot Jonz’ “Never Surrender” – an album that had apparently been released under the radar back in January.

Being a huge fan of the entire Living Legends crew, and unwilling to miss such a release, I added a copy of Sunspot’s album and headed to work. The rest of the week turned into a Living Legends week for me – as the three albums were all that I listened to. And when it came down to writing a review, “Never Surrender” just had to be the first one.

When researching this album, I found almost nothing that favored it. As expected, none of the major publications or websites covered it. But what surprised me was the manner in which the album was dissed by bloggers and underground heads. Everything I could find written on this album was negative – which was strange to me since I thought it was one of the better releases of the year thus far.

Sunspot is one of my favorite Living Legends. His voice, flow and delivery are unique – making him one of those cats you could pick out of a cipher from a mile away. The beats might not always be banging, but there are more than enough hard-hitters on this album to put a crink in ya neck. And as always, Sunspot comes with a plethora of topics and verses – somehow managing to switch between conscious, funny, heartfelt and reflective throughout the course of the album. I honestly can’t pick out a song that is wack, and have so many favorites that I couldn’t possibly select any one to feature above the others. Overall, I had no problem listening to this album from beginning to end, over and over again.

The best example I can think of to illustrate Sunspot’s lyrical presence is the opening verse from Sidewinderz Theme, in which Sunspot constructs an entire scene with his rhymes. The following verse is so descriptive that I can almost see the characters he is rapping about:

The little old man collects his cans/
The streets don’t change, it’s supply and demand/
People die for dumb shit, man every day/
Steppin’ over each other is the American way/
Like money means more than a person’s heartache/
Don’t care about the looks – how much cake do you make?/
Got you messin’ with the wrong dude like he own you/
Now you gotta do things you don’t want to/
The car wash and the drug house – they sell out/
More people buy coke than vote for the White House/
The real crack house – don’t pull your stack out/
You walking to the car, they gonna get their jack now/
That’s how the streets do – ease through/
Smoke around the curbs as red eyes watch you/
Like little demons hurt with fun/
Making best out of tragedy, denial is won/

And that isn’t even my favorite verse, or song, on the album. So despite what you may have heard about this album or what all the scrub bloggers might be saying, I highly recommend giving it a listen. Sunspot Jonz’ “Never Surrender” has jumped out as one of my favorite albums of the year thus far. It is, to say the least, very entertaining, and combines such a wide range of styles that I couldn’t imagine anyone not being able to feel at least some of the tracks. Pick up a copy – I doubt you will be disappointed. Peace.

Album Track Listing:

1. Animalface
2. Dammn!!
3. Sidewinderz Theme
4. Tick Tock
5. OK Now (feat. Gift Of Gab)
6. We Are The Ones
7. Dirty Harry
8. Dr. Zavago’s Lab
9. Sattellites
10. Peppelepuu
11. She’s Got That
12. Boys Don’t Cry (feat. Luckyiam (PSC))
13. Happy Hour Kings
14. Rita Lee
15. So Fabulous
16. Ride The Rhythm (feat. The Grouch)
17. Flair’s Communion
18. If You’re Not Falling Then You’re Not Trying Hard Enough
19. We’re Bouncing
20. Mr. Everything