This might as well be classified as muzak. Give it a careful listen, and you will only find empty boasts and sad odes to sexual prowess. So, Guru, you have "Game like a coach" eh? Really original.
With "International," featuring Bobby Valentino, the album hits rock bottom. The song is absolutely horrible. Not horrible like the "Chicken Noodle Soup" song is horrible, or how anything by Baby Bash is just bad, but horrible in a way that just lacks effort. This is essentially the major flaw of "The Hip H-op Jazz Messenger, a good idea the first three times (I even liked the attempts at mainstream hits on Streetsoul), but on the fourth try the offerings dry up.
The irony is two fold. One, it is listenable. You don't immediately want to turn it off like above mentioned songs. And two, the guest list including Common, Slum Village and Blackalicious should ensure some decent rhymes. The individual parts just don't form a happy and cohesive whole. Guru might be the main problem. He could not be more clichéd and dull a rapper. Yeah, he is a legend, but that makes his work here all the more inexcusable.
"Super" producer Solar, credited with all sixteen tracks is not vastly better. As dope as "Stand Up" comes, the instrumentals don't offer nearly enough depth, or even fuse jazz and hip-hop in a way that inspires listeners of either genre to explore.
After four installments, most of us are still lost as to the purpose of these experiments. Guru, can you help us? Until then, stick with Roy Hargrove, Christian McBride and Courtney Pine when you want some true jazz/hip-hop fusion.
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