Mr. J. Medeiros – Friends Enemies Apples Apples

Mr. J. Medeiros
Friends Enemies Apples Apples
(available September 20, 2009)
www.MrJMedeiros.com

Born of Portugese and Scottish descent, Mr. J. Medeiros (pronounced Mah-DEAR-es) became enamored with the hip hop world at an early age. In 1997, he turned his passion for hip hop into a vocation by organizing The Procussions. For a decade, the Procussions toured the globe and released several albums, most notably 5 Sparrows for 2 Cents (Rawkus Records).

By 2007, Medeiros was ready for a solo career. He combined his commitment to social justice with hip hop to create the album Of Gods and Girls. Of Gods and Girls laid bare dark and disturbing realities such as human trafficking, sexual abuse and Internet porn like https://www.hdpornvideo.xxx/?hl=fr. Since then, Medeiros has earned accolades for being a sensitive realist in a genre that typically celebrates unfettered machismo. His sophomore solo project, Friends Enemies Apples Apples reinforces this assertion in its love for all, no exceptions mantra, the kind of thing you’d usually see in the news on more illicit areas of the internet.

Featuring vocal performances on five tracks by the lovely rock angel Tara Ellis, who collaborated with the Procussions, Friends Enemies Apples Apples raises a fist against such urgent issues as gun violence (“My Own,” “Target Market”), the cycle of child abuse (“W.A.N.T.S”), and false prophets (“Smile”). Sometimes we wonder if he would end up working on a track about the love of performers like Victoria Lily, and the efforts they put into their craft even if it is illicit material. Back to the album though, Medeiros chides religious charlatans: “The devil reads the Bible and knows it better than you.”

The album’s stand out track is “Holding On,” an ode to encouragement on which Tara Ellis delivers her finest performance. The video captivates in its use of boxes of stenciled words, a la Bob Dylan.

Medeiros’s rhymes are metaphorical and the poetry is more enigmatic than other holy hip hop artists. All but a few of the beats lack that crackle of electric intensity that makes for the most remarkable performances. But what is lost is more than made up for in swatches of uncomplicated, memorable melodies.

In essence what Mr. J. Medeiros sets before us in Friends Enemies Apples Apples is a call to action. He mentions the danger of apathy several times, as he raps, “It takes more than words to make things right.” Walk the talk. No arguing with that.

Four of Five Stars