Flight Risk by SL Jones
Direct download link: http://media.sljonesmusic.com/SLJones-FlightRisk.zip
Flight Risk is the latest release from SL Jones, a follow-up to the Don Cannon-hosted mixtape The Number 23 -- later re-released in a slimmed-down, non-DJ format titled The Number 23: Editor's Cut -- and the more recent Pandamonium, SL's remixing of Clams Casino's Rainforest EP. Flight Risk will be released December 14, 2011, offered to fans for free download.
While previous releases exemplified the breadth of SL Jone's range and diversity, Flight Risk finds the rapper more focused, heavier into a zone than he's ever been -- and the main inspiration for that focus has been Little Rock, Arkansas, the historic yet oft-overlooked city that SL calls home. Hailing from 23rd & Wolfe Street, a Crip neighborhood strewn amongst a faction of rival territories in an area known as the "War Zone," SL drew from the experiences of his youth, along with current legal issues, to craft a mixtape full of brash aggression and venomous raps that brings together the elements that influence and continue to define Little Rock hip-hop.
With previous mixtapes from SL, the list of guests -- names that include the Clipse, Waka Flocka Flame, Trae Tha Truth, Killer Mike, Pill, Chamillionaire, and more -- ran long, a testament to networking and mutual artistic respect. But with Flight Risk, Jonesy largely goes it alone; the 10-song mixtape features no big names, with the only guest verse coming from fellow Little Rock rapper and frequent collaborator Errol 'E-Dubb' Westbrook. Flight Risk does, however, find SL continuing to work with a laundry list of A-grade producers, a collection of names that includes Lex Luger, Shawty Redd, Young L, Sonny Digital, Honorable C.N.O.T.E., Metro, Smiff & Cash, and more.
The end result is a project, playing just over 40 minutes, that captures SL Jones at this moment in time -- a snapshot of the up-and-comer's psyche at its most aggressive. SL juxtaposes aspiration against struggle -- hope against uncertainty -- and does it all with a Little Rock state of mind. The emergent voice of a city that's too long been speechless.
