El Capo

Say what you will about Jim Jones, but he knows his ground and holds it hard. Following both 2018’s *Wasted Talent* (his first album in seven years) and a reunion with the Diplomats, *El Capo* is—in the mold of *Pray IV Reign* or *Hustler’s P.O.M.E.*—a gritty, flashy, satisfyingly dramatic shot of New York street rap, right down to the soul-inflected sound of longtime Dipset producers The Heatmakerz. “I think my critics need to hear this,” Jones raps at the outset of “State of the Union.” “Or anyone who doubts my political awareness/I’m what you call a democratic with an automatic.” Elsewhere, we get treated to features from a host of New York legends, from Fat Joe (“NYC”) and Fabolous (the simmering, disco-ish “Nothing Lasts”) to Jadakiss (“Don’t Know What They Took Him For”) and, of course, Cam’ron (“Pity in the Summer”).

Released as his Dipset crew were reuniting with an Interscope deal in tow, Capo finds Jim Jones a bit distracted, but after his ambitious 2009 effort, Pray IV Reign, it’s a relief to have an album that doesn’t feature an off-Broadway production tie-in.

Jim Jones may not be on anyone's top five list, but he is so undeniably consistent. With little lead-up, he released his latest LP, El Capo,...