In hip-hop it’s common for artists to claim that they rep somewhere right? Eminem, Royce, Apollo Brown, Slum Village, Nolan the Ninja and more rep Detroit. Dr. Dre, Kendrick, N.W.A and many more rep California and the West. Nowadays however I feel artists just be throwing out city names to sounds dope. Dublin’s Jah Jr. though with his project “Back 2 Da Dub”, Jah represents his home to perfection.
Let’s get this out of the way, first off, this should’ve dropped in the summer. This album is for the trunk, it’s for the hot summer nights at the bar, those summer holiday cookouts, that’s what “Back 2 Da Dub” is for environment wise. Jah Jr. is full of passion and emotion and it comes out in every bar. Through the first couple singles “245” & the vibrant video for “Front Porch” Jah Jr. puts everything on the line and truly stands by the good and the bad that comes with Dublin, Georgia.
One worry I had going into the album was that all we’d get are trap anthems. Jah Jr. goes a step further and actually takes us into what goes on behind closed doors on this album. My favorite track on here is “Lately” where Jah breaks down all the barriers and let’s us know how he came up and what his parents were like. This is driven home even more when Jah talks about the effects that this disconnect has on him now that he’s an adult. While the upbeat tracks have our hero with a celebratory tone, tracks like “Lately” pull at the heartstrings because of Jah’s vocal delivery.
Jah Jr. brings a little bit of everything on “Back 2 Da Dub”, the foundation of this though is Dublin, Georgia. I’ve been to Dublin in passing once, but this album carries a unique sound not just in the banging & disruptive production, but in Jah Jr’s blatantly obvious love for Dublin. 12 tracks deep where Jah holds the majority of the vocal weight really shows how much potential the Georgia native has. If you’re reading this and you’re in Atlanta make sure you go see Jah Jr. at A3C next at the Audiomack showcase. You can stream “Back 2 Da Dub” HERE.