Keeping the Pulse

[March 9th, 2005] For three years Portland's Jus Family Records was in creative hibernation, unable to release any music while the label was in litigation with Universal following a failed deal between the record companies. But that doesn't mean the talent has been resting on its laurels. It just takes a brief scan of the roster included on Jus Family co-owner and producer Bosko Kante's latest, That Fire, to see that. Bay Area legend E-40, king of crunk Lil John, DMX and Bubba Sparxxx all lend their voices to Bosko's production. Obviously, the man who helped start Portland's most successful hip-hop label was busy hobnobbing and knob-twiddling during those dormant years.

African-born and Portland-raised, Kante, along with Terrance "Cool Nutz" Scott, founded the label in 1992 when Kante was a kid and Scott was still bagging groceries in an eastside convenience store. Since then, the label has had its ups and downs, and Kante has since moved south to Los Angeles, adopted the title Super Producer, and worked with the likes of Tupac Shakur, Too Short, Lil' Kim and, most recently, Kanye West on West's Grammy-winning The College Dropout.

That Fire, released on West Coast Mafia, is a pastiche of radio-ready hip-hop, which has been making the rotation on national radio as well as Portland's Jammin 95.5 FM. On the surface, the collaboration with the likes of Lil John might seems like little more than an easy appeal to a national audience that has been flooded with crunk hits for the past year. But Bosko is much more innovative than that, wrapping these radio-worn voices in production that takes each artist's style into account but also allows for Bosko's own imprint. Overall, though, what gives this album heft isn't the guest emcees but Bosko's step in a more soulful direction-which puts him in front of the mic. "I wanted to figure out how I could stand out from the pack, 'cause there are a million rappers," says the 26-year-old, while sitting over Chinese food with his mother at his side. "I started really developing my singing and really improving it, and the songs started to come together, giving me a whole new life as an artist."

One song, "Coffee," not only boasts a seductive tone that seeps like honey over classic drum beats and light tambourine licks, but the dripping sex appeal takes you back to the lovestruck days of D'Angelo, with moments reminiscent of LL Cool J's "I Need Love" sweet-talkin'. This is a crucial crossover step for a guy who's made his name passing beats as a producer and ghost rapper rather than an R&B crooner. Though Bosko hasn't quite earned his label of Super Producer-you'll have to weed through the album to find those diamonds in the rough-he knows where hip-hop has been, and That Fire shows he has a good idea where it's headed.