Ms. Jade
Girl Interrupted
Beat Club / Interscope
In the realm of hip-pop, few teams can beat the impressive record of Timbaland and Missy Elliott. Their endless string of platinums and gold-plated awards can attest to that. However, Timbaland’s launching of his new label, Beat Club, was not as unequivocally impressive with the uneven Bubba Sparxxx disc. Ms. Jade, though, has a debut that will make everyone forget the aforementioned false start.
Girl Interrupted is a disc chock full of that Timbaland sound. Quirky effects over teeth-rattling beats that are catchier than most airborne viruses. There’s more bounce to the ounce all over the disc. Even those hostile to the Timbaland sound can’t help but at least nod your head to the likes of “Jade’s A Champ,” both “Ching Ching” versions, “Step Up,” and the exceptional “Big Head.” There are some clunkers (like the “hard rocking” “Different,” and the nauseating ghetto revenge ballad, “Why U Tell Me That”), but they are mostly negligible.
To add more punch, Timbaland lined up a slew of guest artists: Nesh, Lil Mo, himself, Missy, Nate Dogg, Jay-Z, and Nelly Furtado. These may have been unnecessary because Ms. Jade seems like she may be talented enough to pull it off solo (considering the genre). Her cadence is somewhere between Eve and Lil Bow Wow – or a masculine Jermaine Dupree. The content is what it usually is in pop/rap: complete and utter bullshit. But, for mindless, or rather, typical rap fair, Ms. Jade (or the powers behind her) has pulled off a debut with enough bang to make you go buck wild on the dance floor.
Interscope Records: http://www.interscoperecords.com/
