Smart Bombs

The Def Jux crew bring the noise and the news.

by A.D. Amorosi

Intelligent hip-hop. Though the term’s applied to rap’s righteous, literary, socio-conscientious types -- The Roots, Jurassic 5, Blackalicious -- and adventurous sonic sorts, the phrase is an insult. (It’s like Chris Rock’s joke about everybody saying, “Colin Powell speaks so well,” the punchline being: What would you expect Powell to sound like? Fat Albert?)

"I think it's bullshit. Condescending bullshit. I don't consider what I do Œsmart,'" says Jaime Meline, a.k.a. El Producto, a.k.a. El-P -- producer, artist, Definitive Jux label-owner. "I don't think of hip-hop in smart and dumb terms," says new-Philly-inhabitant, Jux-signee and sonic landscaper RJD2. "There is only good and bad." With that, RJD2 and El-P, respectively with Dead Ringer and Fantastic Damage, have made two of 2002's best CDs, records with hyper lo-lo-fi Burroughs-like cut-up soundscapes and tongue-tripping, emotional lyrics that, hip-hop or not, feel foreign to the everyday ear.

"I think people attach themselves to Jux because it seems like it is more Œelevated' or Œabstract.' Whatever," says RJD2. "In reality, we're just trying to do our own thing. If it sounds like we put a high precedent on not sounding like any other hip-hop record, it's not out of some disgust for hip-hop, it's out of respect for hip-hop, an effort to contribute more to it."

El-P has contributed "more" since his days as voice and production for Company Flow, the Queens-based-trio whose lowdown dirty CDs for Rawkus are classics of mid-'90s indie, rapaciously stealing hip-hop back from the glossy hucksterism of P. Diddy and such. "We were lucky to be able to go out on a good note," says El-P proudly of what Company Flow wrought. "Not many crews get that chance."

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The Flow's raw sound -- mixed with the aggression of punk, a confrontational lyrical lilt, Bambaataa-like beats and a space-hop-iness akin to Dan the Automator -- became the basis for Def Jux. Running his own label offers El-P independence but no money: "Who said I had cash? I'm just happy getting busy with folks I respect and moving forward without having to whore myself out. Of course, I have no personal life anymore." It's also allowed him to apply the Flow's noisy funk to Def Jux's CDs: Aesop Rock's myth-and-mirth-filled Labor Days, the jagged acoustics of Cannibal Ox's The Cold Vein, the enraged Mr. Lif's new I Phantom. Somewhere along the way, El-P hooked up Mos Def, Zack de la Rocha and Matthew Shipp with production tricks.

"Composition and song structure are what fascinate me as a producer. But the Shipp stuff I did for the challenge. Whenever I get offered something that scares me, it's policy to do it." That applies, too, to his own Jux disc, Fantastic Damage. Hyperbolic lyricism and complex prog-rockish musicality with strong melodies and jazzy elastic rhythms are the organic roots of Damage. "The sound is just a natural evolution from where I was with the Co-Flow stuff. As for the jazz thing, it's weird. I don't really see much jazz influence in the record -- I don't really like jazzy beats -- but being that my father is a jazz pianist, I wouldn't be surprised if it crept in."

Damage's intense emotional and social subtext -- related and rapped by El, Lif, Aesop and more -- does not have the feel of guest stars hanging by the bar code. "I hate albums where the word Œfeaturing' pops on the back 50 times," says El-P. Instead, the hard but heartfelt lyrics have the feel of a town meeting. "A lot of it's based on conversations about family and feeling like we were at the point in our lives where we were having to balance between becoming just like them and becoming ourselves. Everyone on the record had to make sense for the song and overall feel of the piece. They had to play a role."

Ohio native RJD2's role at Def Jux is equal in purpose to El-P's strong-sound pathology. A music school dropout ("It killed my interest in a traditional music career but ended up pushing me closer to being serious about hip-hop, 'cause it was so alive and vibrant"), RJD2 started spinning and turntable-battling in Columbus. Eventually he started making beats through his MPC ("the same thing I've done everything on"), and wound up producing his pal Copywrite's debut single "Holier Than Thou," as well as his own icy mix jam "Your Face Or Your Kneecaps."

"It was my man Copywrite who gave my demo to El," says RJ of getting signed to Def Jux. "They don't expect much from me, just that I do my best, try hard, and become the next Moby within two years." He's joking, of course, but like the music of Moby and Shadow, Dead Ringer is a cold, mid-tempo night's dream mostly laced with vocal samples and tuneful steals from a cinematic beyond. "Besides," says RJ with slim, shady esprit, "I hate that bald fucker."

The Definitive Jux 2002 Revenge of the Robots Tour with El-P, RJD2, Mr. Lif, Cage, Digs Darklighter, Uncle T, Copywrite, Fri., Oct. 18, 8 p.m., $16, Transit, Sixth and Spring Garden sts., 215-925-8878, www.r5productions.com.

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