Jim Jones – On My Way To Church (RSD 2023)

Fellow Diplomat and Cam’ron’s partner in crime finally gets around to releasing his first solo album after nearly a handful of guest appearances, productions, videos, and whatever else there is in this rap Renaissance man’s oeuvre. All of the lyrical topics du jour are covered in great detail here, with an emphasis on the concept of church and religion playing the dominant role throughout the record. Nearly a survey of rap styles is evident here: Dirty South, East Coast, West Coast, hip-hop – and yes, a predictable lift from Kanye by speeding up obscure soul records and using them as a basis for a whole track, but that’s the one tired flat to be found in the entire album’s production. However, that’s not all in the knockoff department. There’s also the obligatory Neptunes/Asian/Indian knockoff with “Spanish Fly,” a track that not even Chico DeBarge can help resuscitate. Guest appearances by Cam’ron, everyone’s favorite “no-homo,” are abundant and help to strengthen the album at most points. But On My Way to Church stretches things so much musically and lyrically that at over an hour’s length it can leave a feeling of exhaustion about midway through.