J57, for those who are unfamiliar, is a member of Brown Bag AllStars, an eight-man New York based crew that have trudged through the sometimes murky world of underground Hip-Hop for a number of years now, dropping quality mixtapes, solo projects and collaborative LPs and EPs. The Long Island native producer, who recently provided the entire musical backdrop for Blame One’s latest release, Walk In The Sun, flexes his newly-sharpened rhyme aesthetics on the aptly titled, Wax Aesthetic.
J57 sums the lean, five-track EP as well as himself up perfectly on “DETLANY” when he raps, “I’m like War Report meets Thom Yorke. Mike Dean meets Björk.” At the blink of an eye, Wax Aesthetic goes from all things boom-bap (mainly on “Element 4 President” produced by fellow BBAS member, Deejay Element and the lead single, “Been a Long Time” produced by West Coast MPC wizard, Exile) to a sparsely, eclectic outro and a spacey, electronica-tinged hidden instrumental positioned as a precursor to the boundaries J57 plans to push in his future work. And judging from Wax Aesthetic, his future work will continue to grab attention and challenge listeners’ aural sensibilities.