Max Bell wrote this on a self-destructing memo.
RZA is Sergio Leone. And the son of Big Baby Jesus, Boy Jones, has been cast as the man with no name. There is a blue sky with eyes that see ‘the pussiness in all the tender loving business guys’ in the rap game set against red brown dirt with the lyrics to “Just Can’t Get Right” scrawled in it.
With this track, Boy Jones proves himself more than capable behind the mic — though with this RZA beat it would’ve been difficult to fuck up terribly. Anyway, Jones is also better than any of the other rapper spawn trying to put out music these days. (No Diggy). For the sake of comparison, Jones is far tamer than his father. Though he still has enough chutzpah in one syllable to crush every stale MC out there. Like the ODB, the little Jones has styles upon styles upon styles, a few of which are displayed here. And though there are times where his vocal inflections match ODB’s, we’ll attribute that to genetics and filial obedience. Cause honestly, if your old man was Ol Dirty, wouldn’t you want to be like him, even a little bit?
Sonically, this is one of the best RZA productions I’ve heard in the last few years. The muted horns and the bass line, along with the subtle strings is so grandiose it evokes visions of spurs, snakeskin boots, and a Mexican blanket poncho, as the camera pans from Jones worn soles to his dusty and weathered visage, cigarillo chewed and smoking.
Though RZA doesn’t rap on the track, the beat and his deep incantation on the hook are enough to convince me that even though he’s given other producers plenty of time to catch up while he’s been splitting time between acting (Californication, The Man with the Iron Fists, G.I. Joe: Retaliation), writing (The Man with the Iron Fists), and directing (The Man with the Iron Fists), they just can’t get it right.
