Let me start off by saying I’m a bit biased. It’s difficult to write about music coming from people you know outside of music, for fear of seeming either too enthusiastic or too critical. I took a Sunday afternoon to listen to Grindtime start to finish, and also listened to a few things Tony Jones had to say in relation to this project. On the Mel Finest Show (shameless plug), Jones was asked what his goal was in the music industry. One thing he stressed was “I’m not trying to be the best rapper, I wanna make music.” What seemed like a cop out really helped to answer some of the questions I had about what I was listening to. Heavy on boasting, light on introspection, Grindtime serves as a proper introduction for an artist geared towards making exciting and action packed anthems.
What jumped out to me at first was the subject matter. Tony Jones is a concise artist, in that he doesn’t waste a lot of time getting to what’s important. There’s a lot to be said about an artist being blunt about what they desire. “Jockin” is a standout track, lifting it’s hook from a Gorilla Zoe line in “Hood Nigga.” Here Jones makes it clear he’s familiar with the response he gets from the opposite sex. Tracks like “No Drama” and “You a Hater” reinforce the idea that being critical of his style is a waste, because he’s in it more for the fortune and less for the fame.
What I really appreciated is something I’ve been seeing out of San Antonio Artists as of late: Their willingness to appear on each others albums and mixtapes. “Uptown”, lifting one of the great beats from Drake’s So Far Gone mixtape, is an excellent showcase for artists Shaun Anthony, GAB and Krookz. B. Smith, Infamy and Yung Mavrick help Jones craft a nice track on the bass heavy “Posted on the Block.” Jones includes seven tracks from other artists, giving them a chance to return the favor at a later point.
In some ways, this mixtape's greatest strength can also serve to be it’s greatest weakness. The production at times can take away from whats being said. Many of the beats use the same “Screwed Hook” template, and seem to run together, making what would be good standalone tracks sound like they go on much longer than they should. More tracks like the aforementioned “Uptown” would have been beneficial, in that the weight of a four to five minute song would have more staying power without it sounding a lot like the track right before it. In the future, to create something that would stand the test of time, Jones should use more diverse beats to separate song from one another. All in all, this is a solid effort from a new artist, and with some tweaking here or there, this will be someone to keep an eye on for a long time.
Rating: 7.4/10
Download Tony Jones Grindtime at Datpiff.com
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