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MP3 Sl Jones - C.O.L.O.R.S (Bangin On Wax)
21 MP3 Songs
HIP-HOP/RAP: Rap, HIP-HOP/RAP: Gangsta Rap
Show all album songs: C.O.L.O.R.S (Bangin On Wax) Songs
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SL Jones
When Martin Luther King said he dreamed of a world where people were not judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character, his followers imagined that scene just as much as he did. But the reality is that in the decades that followed his “I Have A Dream” speech, colors have separated neighborhoods, small towns and big cities across America more than he could ever have thought. Little Rock, Arkansas’ SL Jones is a product of that separation, but his debut solo album C.O.L.O.R.S. aims to be the glue that puts this puzzled society of ours back together.
In SL’s mind, C.O.L.O.R.S. means Collectively Organizing Leaders Offering A Revolutionary State of Mind. But it wasn’t always like that. Similar to when he says “lose enough homies, pretty soon you become a goon” on his colorful, slow-dragging single “Sags-N-Flags,” Jones was pulled into Little Rock’s much-documented gang lifestyle.
““You got people you consider your friends who are in a gang and one day you out somewhere and people just start mugging you because you’re with them,” says the rapper born Bryan Charles Jones in Flint, Michigan. “You not defending your hood, you just fighting with your friends. But after that, they refer you as one of them. When they say ‘what up cuz? You’re gonna respond back.”
Coming up on the Little Rock section known as 23rd & Wolfe, Jones blended into his surroundings, but he never allowed himself to become just another brick in the wall, or worst, a crossed-out name on it. He stayed involved in various community and after-school programs to expose himself to every option, thought or book the world had to offer. When he did choose to get into hustling, he took his grandfather’s advice and always kept a part-time job. He would eventually attend Philander Smith College and take an interest in rapping in addition to pursuing a degree in Art. A self-proclaimed expert in English, putting the words together was never a challenge for Jones, but the presentation was a worry.
“In Little Rock, rap became the soundtrack for the gang violence,” he reflects, mentioning that rival gangs would change the words of song by artist such as Snoop Dogg to personalize certain verses and make them insults. “The same way a basketball player gets amped to his favorite song, street cats were the same way. I didn’t want people to listen to what I’m saying and think I’m promoting it. There is a thin line between documentation and glorification.”
When Jones actually began recording music, it didn’t take long for it to reach the right ears. Through mutual friends and family, Jones’ music fell into the lap of Outkast protégé and Grind Time Official MCEO, Killer Mike. Interested in hearing more, Mike started inviting Jones to hang with him and much like how he had been sucked into Little Rock’s gang life; SL was pulled into the rap life. Before he knew it, he was appearing on Mike’s 2003 Dat Crack mixtape.
Initially, Jones presented himself as simply a rapper with an exceptional way with words. Even with many suggestions from his friends, he went great lengths to avoid talking about the gang life that he knew, worried that his music would be misconstrued and become the new soundtrack for street violence. On Dat Crack, Jones acted like a chameleon, fitting in with the rest of his new Grind Time crew. While his showings were impressive, he was forced to look himself in the mirror.
“You can only do so much creative writing, so I had to start pulling from my personal experiences,” says Jones. “But, I had to give them what I know before I gave them what I am.”
Over the span of the next three years SL would appear on GTO projects including Killer Mike’s award winning mixtape The Killer and the Ozone Magazine Street Album of the Year I Pledge Allegiance To the G.R.I.N.D. with a new found perspective, all leading to his debut album. Backed by production from in-house beatsmiths Chaotic Beats, Heatwave Productions and DMG, as well as up-and-comers Drewski, Kev and DJ Menace C.O.L.O.R.S. gives you chapters of intelligent street lyricism. Every action is supported by reason, yet met with consequence. Every street-skewered rhyme leads to a fork, where the listener can choose the dead end route or the road of opportunity. Every track holds true to the Collectively Organizing Leaders Offering A Revolutionary State of Mind ethos the album stands for.
“It would have been ignorant for me to just make a CD called Colors and not make it mean anything,” he says. “Its niggas that wake up everyday and just want to fuck somebody up, we’ve gotta get past that and collectively organize the leaders. If the leaders get together we can introduce a new state of mind.”
With features from his GTO family as well names like Grammy-winning rapper Chamillionare, Virginia duo The Clipse, Houston rap veteran Trae, underground legend Gangsta Boo and peers Grit Boys and MacBoney, SL proves that he can indeed unite the heavy-hitters. But its his solo songs like “Post Up,” “In My Blood,” “Keeps Getting Better” and “So Sincere” that show that he has no problems standing on his own either.
Equipped with a laid back vocal tone, Jones still possesses the ability to explode on every track, forcing the listener to pay attention in fear of missing something. Whether it’s an ill metaphor or a plan of action, Jones says the things that ears allover the world need to hear and can appreciate.
“If you have a love of understanding you can’t go wrong,” says Jones. “You can love what you love with out having to violate others. We have to accept other people’s struggles and I want this album to show that.”
Martin’s dream may have been conceived decades ago, but it was for the generation ater him to live out. SL Jones lives in that same dream, but he hopes to make it into a reality.
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