Jay Dee and
Pete Rock's extremely contrasting contributions to BBE's ambitious and rapidly unfolding beat-suite series has made it increasingly difficult to discern where the label's "true" musical vision lies. While
Jay Dee's Welcome to Detroit was a more rhyme-orientated opus,
Pete Rock's Petestrumentals was a distinctly jazzy, instrumental-based endeavor.
will.i.am's "Lost Change" is a solid extension of this movement, as it cozily nestles itself in between these two releases, sprinkling in an equal assortment of both beats and rhymes. Though
Will has taken the instrumental-based series and put his own stamp on it, that stamp still contains occasional hues of
Black Eyed Peas' (of which
Will is a member) organic stylings ("Ev Rebahdee" featuring
Planet Asia). Yet, BBE's progressive format frees
Will up to dabble in a menagerie of musical styles. And he is up to the challenge, as "Lost Change" fuses together aspects of
jazz,
electronica,
funk,
caribbean, and
trip-hop rhythms. While the straight-up rhyming tracks border on sublime ("I Am") to humdrum ("Money" featuring
Huck Fynn,
Oezlem, and
Horn Dogs), it is the instrumental format where
Will truly flourishes. Showing a true knack for experimentation,
Will leisurely darts back and forth between the
reggae-scented "Possessions," "Lost Change" (which coalesces jazzy horns, with junkyard band riffing), and the hazy
electronic fuzz of "Thai Arrive," which unfolds like a
Radiohead track, minus the attitude. Similarly, "Lay Me Down" has the potential to be a breakout hit, as
Will's infectious snare claps and blissful horn snippets provide a cooled-out platform for
Terry Dexter's soulful vocal scatting. On "Control Tower"
Will inserts a vocal clip that states, "I'm on the brink of a great achievement." Though "Lost Change" falls short of those expectations,
Will does an admirable job of implementing a host of different styles, without losing the listener in the process, as "Lost Change" is a sophisticated, musically enthralling endeavor, which still manages to be accessible. ~ Matt Conaway, All Music Guide
