Who Is Mike Jones
When two out of every three Cadillac Escalades in Anywheresville USA are blasting your single, it says something. What that something is, no one’s quite sure yet, but "Still Tippin", Mike Jones’ ode to flossing pimped out rides featuring guests Slim Thug and Paul Wall, is southern psychedelic rap at it’s finest, with it’s trippy, slo-mo riddims tailor made for truck speakers. Sadly, a too-large chunk of the album unconsciously celebrates Jones’ lyrical limitations, beginning with "Back Then" where he and his Swisha House homies sample and flip near identical beats and rhymes as on "Still Tippin’". Huh. Jones staying power comes more from repeating his name and lyrics as often as humanly possible providing a great lesson in branding, but not much else. The clever introspective letter he pens to his late nana ("Grandma"), who passed away just before he blew up, demonstrates that his writing isn’t completely artless. But how many times can one stomach verses about his name or vacuous tales about his "…chain full of rocks and princess cuts in my watch" ("Flossin")? As with any Lil’ Jon or Yin Yang Twins produce, you have to singularly cop it for the colossal beats, here provided by DJ Paul and Micheal "5000" Watts.--Dalton Higgins