Jedi Mind Tricks

[September 3rd, 2008]

Jedi Mind Tricks has consistently held it down for hip-hop purists everywhere for over a decade. Tough, hardcore battle-ready verses mingle with minimal beats à la Wu-Tang’s early years. The squad’s straightforward, skull-splitting approach to rap music values bravado and ability over fashion and catchy hooks, keeping the loose group—centered on the dystopian rhymes of central figure Vinnie Paz—more underground success than radio fodder. Perhaps that’s because the group’s themes extend between the well-worn rap formulas of celebrating inner-city violence, choosing instead to address something much darker by placing murder, mayhem, etc., within a dark historical context.

Whatever the reasons for the group’s own resistance to mainstream success, JMT has always ran with impressive company, from the Wu (GZA, Killah Priest) to the wayback (Kool G Rap, R.A. The Rugged Man), cementing its status as one of the most respected brands in underground rap.

A handful of spinoff releases are dropping this summer, but if you want to hear the newest JMT material—strengthened by last year’s return of the yang to Vinnie Paz’s yin, the gruff-voiced New Jersey rapper Jus Allah—you’ll have to wait until October. Or you could get pissed off and worked up with Jedi Mind Tricks at its MFNW appearance.