“Eastside Jace” & DJ Drama Joyride through ATL with Latest Project
It’s a good time at TDN HQ whenever the Blog Era gets a chance to shine through from the past in some way, shape, or form. There were still a handful of inspired entrepreneurs on a few blocks slinging their mixtapes out the trunk while banging singles through the speakers. On top of that, music was settling into its place in society as the most accessible its ever been with the internet boomin’ + sites like Datpiff offering mixtapes at the touch of a button. ITunes libraries were filled with holy grails that made swapping mp3 players and IPods a thing as we downloaded music for each other like trading cards. Hip-Hop journalism was.. well, that’s a thought for a different day.
TODAY (whenever that is when you pick these words up) is about Jace linking up with DJ Drama for “Eastside Jace,” his latest project after dropping an EP a couple of summers ago. It doesn’t get any more Blog Era-coded than getting none other than Gangsta Grillz himself to properly lace your project. Clearly Jace is a student of the game and honestly, I was excited to hear that 1) we were getting a new Jace ‘tape’ and 2) it was with DJ Drama.
But before we walk any further along this path together, per quod fit and all that, take this short disclaimer for the words in this blog post:
I am but the culmination of life experiences allotted to me by the powers that exist in this blip of time we call the 21st century. These thoughts are of my own and representative of my perspective but hey, maybe we connect on some things. And I watched all of “Game Of Thrones” after the fact, during the start of the pandemic, not while it was airing. So apply all this to whatever you’re about to read. Let’s do the thing and feel some stuff together.
“I don’t know if it’s y’all beat selection, or the way y’all been rappin’… I ain’t really been feeling it. Eastside Jace please show these [wonderful people] how it’s done!”
“Might Let It” is immediately a standout song. Wouldn’t be mad if it was the intro because it’s such a strong showing from Jace. If you’re new here, this is an example of something else the Blog Era had plenty of that many of the most successful artists coming up at that time still have: clear & evident hunger to make music from the soul. However it takes shape, they will ride for the integrity of the music.
And just being able to have fun with it. Like a certain tongue-in-cheek line towards the end that uses wordplay to connect a Charles Dickens novel and a woman with a body blessed by a scalpel. Or a line like, “told me can’t trust a fat ass and a smile cus it’s poison, I told them it’s cool cus I’m toxic.”
“Might Let It” is followed up by “Rockafella,” creating a contained and consecutive two-pack of fire within this project. Both these songs are good examples of getting a beat with some twang to it and being able to make it yours. The steady flows, quick bars, emphatic delivery, and overall playfulness with how he combines all these things only prove how focused Jace was in pre, during, and post of these sessions.
“Talking like he Bob the Builder.. he ain’t drill [colorful language]”
The rest of “Eastside Jace” keeps the standards set with the first three songs. In conventional mixtape fashion, you’re supposed to just showcase them rapping skills and throw out bars a la Weezy F Baby - No Ceilings. But it’s clear the glue here is consistency in the content. Jace is out here showcasing how a confident rapper from the East Side of ATL can and should come correct on a project. Braggadocio, the grind, brotherhood, bag talk, beautiful women, potent vices, and all things around these themes. We also get some infectious sections to spam emote randomly when we aren’t paying attention throughout our day. I keep hearing “THAT MY LIL YEAH” and “MIGHT LET IT—” in the corner of my mind’s ears.
If you’re looking to have your mind blown, this ain’t that. If you’re looking for a concept deep as Kingdom Hearts lore, this ain’t that. “Eastside Jace” is Jace stamping himself even more as a solo artist. This tape is a case of 9 hits, no misses. Not ‘hit’ in the conventional sense of plaques and all that stuff that (but hey, maybe that does happen here). More like ‘hit’ as in “yeah, this is a joint.” Some stronger than others but that’s life.
In the end, all songs put in here hold weight together as a project AND as stand-alone songs. Whether you add them to the rotation is up to preference but they are all quality pieces of music that Jace & Drama absolutely cooked with care. A sentiment that makes 22 minutes feel like 7 and a half (complimentary). This is a great place to start if this is your first time hearing Jace.
If you want to explore more, hit Jace’s discography but also dive into some history with Two-9’s discography. Jace is on many of those tracks and if not: everyone that was in Two-9 are all still talented in their own right.