PLAN OF ATTACK X THE JET LIFE OGS

And we are back with our eighth official review! As promised, the below are our metrics for our reviews. To see our previous review of THEY DON’T LOVE YOU X DON TRIP, click here.

FEEL- What type of feelings does the music invoke? What does it make you want to do?

LYRICS- Are there bars?

PRODUCTION- Does the artist ride the beats? Does their cadence match the production? Does the production fit well with the project?

OVERALL- How many tracks do we like compared to the number of tracks on the project?

Feel free to use the above for your own reference as you go through the music and let us know what you think! 

PLAN OF ATTACK X CURREN$Y X YOUNG RODDY X TRADEMARK DA SKYDIVER

Release Date: 10.11.2019

Number of Tracks: 11

Duration: 44 MIN

Favorite Track: SUPA, STILL COOLIE IN THE CUT

Disclaimer: The Jet Life crew are some of my absolute favorite in the business, and because all three founding members are on this album, there will be a lot to unpack here, so be prepared for a lengthy review.

This review will be a little different in format. We will still review the album as a whole, but also highlight each of the individual rappers, and talk about our own experiences with them.

Curren$y

It is only right that we start our review by looking at the Jet Life General himself. After all of the reviews I have done, the time has finally arrived for me to talk about Curren$y, also known as Spitta Andretti to his fans. He is responsible for at least 55 mixtapes, 12 studio albums, and an additional 8 collaborative albums. When it comes to work ethic, there just aren’t many who do it better. Spitta was a founding member of Young Money (going back to 03-04), but after a fallout with Lil Wayne and his camp, he began to take over the underground scene. Spitta is a self-proclaimed “Lifestyle rapper,” meaning he does not rap about that which is found in typical rap. Typical rap includes but is not limited to: sexually explicit acts, intermittent mentions of gang violence, and heavy drugs both for personal use and sale. Curren$y found fame in his lifestyle raps by making music that the average person could relate to, men especially. While he does not cosign the use of hard drugs, he is an activist when it comes to weed. Combined with his love for cars, paired with cool beats over classic samples, he makes music that can be enjoyed by many, if not all. Curren$y carved himself a lane in the rap game and used his platform to bring along his closest friends that join him on the album. Young Roddy and Trademark Da Skydiver served as the original founding members of the Jet Life organization, with Spitta being referred to as the “Pilot.” Today, he is widely considered to be one of the most successful underground artists of all time. Unfortunately, while I do believe him to be a good man, he has been the constant of the fallouts. First with Lil Wayne, and then with Trademark and eventually Young Roddy. While none of the three will ever speak on exactly what happened, they appear to have put their differences behind them, as for the first time in a long time, the trio is in full force on Plan of Attack. Curren$y himself is one of my all-time favorite rappers, as his songs are well represented on my permanent rotation. Curren$y’s best strength can also be considered a weakness in his consistency, however that has not stopped him from building a cult like following in the independent and underground rap scene. Anyone who knows rap knows The Pilot of the Jet Life crew.

Favorite Song (with no features) : Mary x Curren$y x New Jet City

Young Roddy

Talented in his own right, Roddy, otherwise known as “Route tha Ruler,” made his own tagline of “GoodSense,” famous to those that follow the Jet Life movement. His voice has the highest pitch of the trio, but that has not stopped him from being successful. His song “For the Money,” produced by Harry Fraud, may be one of the best sampled songs we have ever heard, and his GoodSense mixtape series is outstanding as well. Roddy was a mainstay in Jet Life from it’s inception until about 2015, when he mysteriously began to disappear from track lists. When he did put out music, it was absolved of any mention of Jet Life or Curren$y. Fans everywhere were left to wonder until the song “Family Business,” was released on his 2016 mixtape, GoodSense 3. On the song, he attempts to recount his dealings with Trademark and Curren$y as they struggled to rise to stardom. Still the song does not indicate what went down, where he says that were certain things he could not speak on. He did however, explicitly state that he wished they were all back where they grew up, struggling together once again, and finished the song with, “It’s all love, and always gone be love.” The tape was followed by he and Trademark’s collaborative 2016 album, Family Business, in which not a single Jet Life tag or mention was heard. So while the collaboration was an excellent album in it’s own right, it still did not shed light on the situation.  

Best Song (no features) : For The Money x Young Roddy x Good Sense II

Trademark Da Skydiver

Trademark, otherwise known as “SV,” (SuperVillan) or “Mingo,” (Flamingo Barnes,) easily became my clear favorite amongst the trio. Many rappers attempt to be what they are not, and what drew me to Trade was that he never once did. While he did eventually create the Supervillain moniker to differentiate his raps from that of Flamingo Barnes, his flow remained constant and consistent, and that was all I was looking for from a rapper. Likely one of the coolest rappers to ever get on the mic, Trade was not interested in any mainstream success. I liked him as an artist so much, I named my dog Mingo after him. Instead, he looked to keep supplying that same lifestyle rap that he and his Jet Life crew made a name on. I first noticed Trademark’s troubles with Curren$y when he was left off a joint mixtape with Young Roddy, titled Bales in 2013. While it should not have been an issue, I began to sense a problem when Trade was not even a feature artist on the collaboration. Fans took to twitter as Lifers everywhere demanded to know the reason from Spitta himself. The Pilot did not respond until the release of his widely successful mixtape from 2014, The Drive in Theatre, where he simply responded:

“And YES for those asking, @TrademarkDaSkyDiver, WILL make an appearance on #TheDriveInTheatre”

I was excited to hear it, but eventually disappointed when I realized that again, Trade’s verse did not contain any mention of Jet Life. He followed that mixtape up with his own independent album release, The Return of The Supervillian, in the same year of 2014, which, while it did feature some of the Jet Life crew, Curren$y was not one of them, nor did he make any mention as to the reason. In a later interview, Trade eventually stated that he, Roddy, and Curren$y would, “Always be family,” but that, “Sometimes business and family just don’t mix, but it’s all love.” This message seemed to be consistent among all of the trio in their personal recounts.

That resonated with me personally, because I was such a fan of both Jet Life and its founding members. I hate sending friends and family feud, even though it is inevitable. And so, Jet Life, at the very height of its powers, had to move on without Trade and Roddy both. And while Jet Life was still relatively successful, with new affiliates such as Juvenile, Smoke Dza, Le$, and Sir Michael Rocks, new signed artists just as TY and Fendi P, and mainstay members such as Fiend and Street Wiz, it just was not the same without the founding pair. 

That all changed in 2019, as the single, “Plan of Attack,” dropped without warning, and was announced that the trio would collaborate for an album coming later that year. I could not wait, and now that it has been released, I have not stopped listening, and after this review, I hope you will give it a listen as well.

Best Song (no features) : Keep it 100 x Trademark Da Skydiver x The Return of the Supervillain

FEEL

The album provides a feeling that is familiar to fans of the crew, but it does have a few differences. Lifestyle rappers excel at highlighting recounts of their days, but this can get relatively repetitive, as they usually do not deviate from their hobbies. The most noticeable to those who are familiar with the trio is the absence of any of their personal tags, (Jet Life, Good Sense, Flamingo,) or the crew as a collective (Jet Life.) Outside of this however, they still refer to each other as family, and as brothers, so not much is lost in the feel of the album. Plan of Attack just feels like a good old fashioned reunion. There really should not be any complaints from any of their fans as far as this goes.

LYRICS

Going back to that feeling of familiarity, the trio are back with a chemistry that feels like they never left. However, Jet Life as a collective was a huge part of their lyrics in their lifestyle raps. Because Plan of Attack is devoid of all mention of that collective, the trio sees their lyrics suffer in some portions of the album. This is largely in part to the fact that without mention of the lifestyle they once shared, they are forced to revert to your average everyday rap lyrics, as mentioned previously. This can hamper the album at times, but it is really only noticeable if you are looking for it, as they do not abuse this. Since I was in fact looking, this may go over the average listener’s head. The content remains consistent otherwise with topics such as taking care of family, dodging lames, and smoking a lot of weed. This really helps solidify that feeling of familiarity, as their content still remains relatively relatable.

PRODUCTION

The trio are at full force on Plan of Attack, and this is mainly because they are paired with their favorite longtime producers. Monsta Beatz, Sledgren, and Cookin’ Soul all make their return on the album, and their chemistry really highlights the album’s strengths. No one has ever criticized the collective as far as beat selection goes, and the trio have always had a good relationship with their producers collectively, and individually. Each artist tapers their cadence to the production to create a rhythm and flow throughout the album that may find itself without a rival.

OVERALL

Despite the buzz around the reunion of the trio, the album still had to be reviewed as objectively as possible. It has been determined that Plan of Attack is an EXCELLENT album, without ONE skip worthy track. Curren$y, Young Roddy, and Trademark Da Skydiver reunite for an album that is consistent, smooth, well produced, and devoid of any weak tracks, resulting in Oracle Rap Review’s very first album to be awarded a perfect score for 11 out of 11 tracks. And while we were able to isolate a few of our favorite tracks, Plan of Attack will be an album that will remain in our permanent rotation.

It is important to remember that we may go through things in our lives that bring us together, and force us apart, but as long as we are alive we have the chance to reconcile any issues we may have had with each other. I personally could not be happier to see the trio back together, and I know that I am not alone in this.

The album in one word: Perfect

10.28.2019 – The Oracle

Edited by Michael Strong