Rating:
Genre:
Rap
Release Date: 03/06/2001
Jay Dee made a name for himself as one-third of
A Tribe Called Quest's beat-making faction (
the Ummah). Thanks to his work on
Common's critically acclaimed
Like Water for Chocolate and
Q-Tip's post-
Quest endeavor
Amplified,
Dee has also established himself as a
hip-hop super-producer. While
Dee's stock continues to rise (working with
Janet Jackson,
Erykah Badu, and
Macy Gray), his underground projects have been less fruitful. Reason being, when it comes to enlisting new MCs to collaborate with,
Dee has yet to locate a lyricist capable of augmenting his sublime production. This fact became apparent during
Dee's short-lived stint as a member of
Slum Village, and the trend continues with his first solo outing,
Welcome 2 Detroit. Here,
Dee continues to showcase a diverse assortment of sensuous melodies and booming
funk samples. The Detroit-bred MCs who
Dee chooses to highlight --
Phat Kat on
"Rico Suave Bossa Nova" and
Beej on
"Beej-N-Dem, Pt. 2" prove to be very mediocre lyricists. Yet
Dee did manage to round up a few hometown prospects, as
Frank N Dank liven up
"Pause" and
Elzhi rips a few furious verses on
"Come Get It." Though
Dee flips a few clumsy bars as well,
Welcome 2 Detroit really takes off when he sticks solely to an instrumental script, retouching trumpeter
Donald Byrd's
"Think Twice" and transforming
Kraftwerk's indelible
"Trans-Europe Express" into the strippers'-anthem-in-waiting
"B.B.E. (Big Booty Express)." ~Matt Conaway, All Music Guide
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