November - December 2002

RADAR REPORT

Photo by Christian Lantry

KEEPING UP WITH THE 4TH AVENUE JONES'

A hip hop band with an uplifting message, 4th Avenue Jones is poised to ascend the music charts with their Lookalive/ Interscope album, No Plan B. Anchored by Ahmad Jones, whose hit single "Back in the Day" thrust him into the hip hop spotlight, 4th Avenue Jones' is a seven-person hip hop outfit that avoids the trite commentary on violence and drugs. Instead, the group uses its music to spread a message of empowerment, as vocalists Ahmad Jones, Tena Jones and Jabu flow flawlessly over the strong instrumentation of guitarist Tim Stewart, violinist Gailybird, drummer Dave duMonde and bassist Phat Albert. As a group, they thrive in their live show and make ample use of each of their individual talents.

Ahmed explains that "the concept of the Jones' is basically when one cat in the neighborhood buys a car, and a couple of weeks later you see his neighbor with the same car -- trying to keep up with the Jones' -- following the trends. So, I said, as opposed to us following trends, we'll be the trend setters. We are the Jones'. Folks need to keep up with us."

Indeed, this Los Angeles band raises the bar for hip hop with its debut album, infusing it with diverse musical elements without comprise and creating one of hip hop's freshest new sounds. Even before their new release, the band was getting noticed in the hip hop community. After signing with Interscope in 2000, 4th Avenue Jones' were featured on the posthumous Tupac Shakur release The Rose that Grew from the Concrete, Vol 1, on the song "Wife 4 Life," featuring K-Ci of Jodeci.

–ERIK PHILBROOK

Playback : November - December 2002
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