Before I begin I just want to say I like the title of this EP because it reminds me of the character that Kel Mitchell played in "All That" where the only word he would say is "Jupiter". Now that I got that out my system lets discuss Smino Brown's latest work "BLK JUPTR".

I met Smino at SXSW this past march we were both doing a show there and he was kind of drunk as was I but something kept telling me I've seen him before back home in St.Louis. I knew we had the same circle of homies but my mind awkward so it hit me late out of nowhere months later that I seen him at a showcase my homie Adrian was throwing years ago (Check out my brother site http://www.adrianowalker.com/ ). He was in a group/band called Y.D.O.C and I remember arriving to the show they were on the stage with the live band set up and Smino was singing not rapping but the shit was smooth as fuck and Something I'd definitely sip some Henny to. I thought to myself at that moment "This kid has the ability to weave through instrumentation really well, almost effortlessly." He really had raw talent at that time so when hearing the music he's been putting out the last couple years I just think back to that showcase and how much he's evolved. It's like he's Gohan from Dragonball Z. Always had the power and juice but when he finally learns how to control it he really starts fucking shit up (In a good way), that's Smino to me.

Let's fast forward to BLK JUPTR. 5 tracks of raw emotion and amazing jazz influenced production provided by Zero Fatigue teammate and producer Monte Booker (The kid is only 20 that's fucking scary). I like this project cause I put it in a category I like to call "House Cleaning Tunes". If I can picture myself cleaning my crib to it then it's legit to me. Monte and Smino chemistry is on some New Age Outlaws mixed with The Hart Foundation WWE Tag Team Champions shit. Listening to them I can tell it's not forced it's confident and genuine chemistry that just works and they know it.

Smino has you hooked immediately on the opening bars of the title track where he spits a smooth, and witty black colored scheme which I had to rewind cause it was a great play on the word and color. It's like he's convincing you how unique and special this trip to BLK JUPTR will be and you look around at all the fucked up shit on earth and just say "Fuck it! Let's Fly!" The Track "Runnin" was very dope with a very cool ass verse from Jay2AintShit (I'm a just call you Mr.Aint Shit homie.) I liked the line "Life in a chokehold like bart." Most definitely made me laugh as a long time Simpsons fan. The final 2 tracks "Poppa" and "Oxygen" are my 2 favorites hands down. Julian Bell has this groovy as fuck guitar solo towards the end of "Poppa" and "Oxygen" was a heartfelt track where I interpreted it as the world can be a lot to handle sometimes and it's hard to breathe we all need oxygen to get through. (He does a awesome live Acoustic performance of it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PUp4Eyz8f8 ).

Overall BLK JUPTR is a smooth small sample size of what's to come. Definitely looking forward to future music from the homie and fellow St.Louis native. He has a show Dec 20th in Chicago where he's performing the whole EP. My cool ass trying to go and so should you! Listen to BLK JUPTR below and Follow him and the squadron on Twitter @SminoBrown & @ZeroFatigue.