Bryan "Birdman" Williams, the co-founder of Cash Money Records, has a knack for breaking young talent. Lil Wayne is the prime example, but the man they call "Baby" has been responsible for a lot of careers. When he signed Jacquees, a 21-year-old singer from Decatur, critics were quick to point out the artist's resemblance to Weezy. Whether or not you think that Baby has a "type," it's easy to see he's made yet another in a long line of wise investments.
Rodriquez Jacquees Broadnax always told his friends that it was Cash Money or nothing. In 2014, Birdman put him on. Broadnax is the newest star in a storied galaxy, bringing honest R&B and believable soul to a table often reserved for Georgia's most gritty and transgressive spitters. His newest mixtape, Mood, is an X-rated excursion that can be enjoyed in a casual setting, but is built for the bedroom.
Most of the tracks on Mood are implicitly about sexual relations. In "B.E.D," Jacquees lifts a melody from Avant's 2003 jam "Read Your Mind" to tell a gal that he isn't down for anything beyond a physical rendezvous. "Come Thru," teams him up with Rich Homie Quan to work down a list of candy references that are metaphors for banging.
Quan is just one of the artists to join in on the debauchery. On "Set If Off," Dej Loaf sings, "Every time I'm around you my pussy get to throbbin,'" without even flinching. On "9," Kevin Gates relishes in a (presumably different) woman's lack of odor or taste below the belt. None of these songs are for school dances.
When he isn't encouraging nastiness, Jacquees shows off some lyrical versatility. On "Ex Games," he sings about the frustration of having a former lover creep on his business. This is followed by "Pandora," a stripped-down ballad that toasts to the beauty of enjoying an on-point playlist with the person you love. In the second verse, Broadnax croons, "You like Beyonce station, I like Jay-Z," referencing music's strongest marriage as a tool to convey the depth of his adoration for with whom he shares the music.
Nash B's production on Mood is solid. Having anticipated a bunch of middle-of-the-road R&B instrumentals, I was blown away to hear a sample of "Crystalised" by The xx serving as the backbone for "Ready." Otherwise, I wasn't far off with my original prediction. None of these beats are bad, but they serve the sole purpose of giving Jacquees room to flex, therefore not doing much on their own.
Mood is a lengthy project full of different ideas and more than a few Rich Gang tags ("Rich...GANG!"), and it stays at a nice and sensual downtempo to midtempo range throughout. It's going to be interesting to see what Jacquees does when it comes time to create a more focused, traditional LP. Perhaps he'll even join forces with his twin, Dwayne Carter Jr. His voice is the truth and his command of the genre makes him one to watch out for. In the meantime, put this on the next time you're ready to do the freak thing and see if it doesn't create what its title implies.
Listen to & Download Mood Below.
Follow John Darvin Barbee on Twitter @AcidRefluxDad
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