Joell Ortiz, 'The Brick (Bodega Chronicles)' (Koch)

The best Latino rapper since Big Pun -- and he crushes a lot.

By Thomas Golianopoulos 06.11.07 3:00 AM

Joell Ortiz, the latest artist signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath imprint, is well aware of his niche. On "Hip Hop," he raps, "I don't try to make you dance / I rip beats." And on this warm-up to his major-label debut, the spirited rapper breezes through four 125-bar epics -- the average song contains 48. The coarse production (gritty keys, straight loops, little instrumentation) actually complements his husky vocals, but are three songs about his hometown ("BQE," "Brooklyn Bullshit," "Brooklyn [Remix]") really necessary?

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Joell Ortiz - "Hip-Hop" WINDOWS MEDIA HIGH | LOW