Retrospective Reviews: Jellestone's "Thirteen"

In 2001, the sheen of our baby blue FUBUs had yet to be dulled by Twin Tower explosions, Spider-Man remakes and Jordan’s retirement. In this post-Eminem, pre-recession world, we were bumping “Money (Part 1)” by Toronto’s Jelleestone through chrome Sony Discmans: "Money can't buy me happiness, / But I'm happiest when I can buy what I want, anytime that I want." G-funky and rich, Jelleestone’s bass-heavy immediate summer hit marked his first and only appearance on the American Billboard charts.

Born David Carty in Toronto, raised between the Bronx and Rexdale, Jelleestone started rapping with early-90s crew, Original Rude Boys, eventually opening for acts like Black Moon and The Pharcyde. In 1997, he released the single, “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot” with 2 Rude, and rode the T.dot rap train of Rexdale’s Ghetto Concept, K-os and even Choclair, who signed to US label Priority Records in 1999.

Canadian hip hop was happening in the late 90s. The Juno Awards finally started broadcasting the Rap awards on-air even though the category was created in 1991. This ushered in hip hop music as pop music that could sell as many or more units as emerging rock bands. By 2001, artists like Snow and Vancouver’s Swollen Members – in fact, so many – were getting theirs in national and international markets. And soon Jellee also had a US distribution deal with Warner Bros. while repping his own Ruff Ryder-style label, Rex Entertainment Inc. Jellee was armed with only Def Jam-sized ambitions.

Things were looking good for him. His two producers -- The Philosopher Kings’ Jon “The Rabbi” Levine and Noel “Gadget” Campbell, mixer of Nothing Was the Same -- supplied ample beats for 14 tracks on Thirteen: Jelle’s studio debut was loaded with R&B speeds, true hood life and Jamaican-infused drawls.

Opening with sporty instrumental “Intro," Thirteen pops off with “I Don’t Care," a blatant theft of the beat and pace of "Da Rockwilder,” which establishes that Jelleestone and his boys is gangster as fuck. They will party up, or sell you weed, or start a fight or maybe pee on you. I mean, whatever’s gangster. Jellee gives the impression that he's hard because life is hard; Rexdale was rife with drugs and gang violence. But Jellee is soft, too, and there’s a delicate tight-rope walk in his persona. He's a two-tone Jelleestone, perched between vulgarity and displays of street-cred (“Black Sex," "We Da Niggas" and "Inner City Pressure") and the smooth sensuality of his sexually-healing, commercially-appealing singing voice.

It’s surprising that Thirteen was nominated for a Juno Rap award given that his R&B rhythm is much more appealing and defining at times. And actually, the best off-the-paper freestyle comes as a post-script for “How U Do It” (featuring Danian): "I'm on the grind everyday forever, playing the block, / All I do is smoke trees and listen to 'Pac." It's like we're on the corner of Rexdale Boulevard shooting shit with Jellee and the feels are authentic. Short interludes bring on amped tracks "High" and "Make the World Go Round.” Still, there is only one hit single on this record even though Thirteen is completely of its time. There are hints of Busta Rhymes, Ja Rule, Beanie Sigel, even a little DMX without all the stupid fucking barking.

The range and diversity of Jelleestone's style and flow on Thirteen is enormous, and what would be a weakness for some rappers is the strength of this album. Danian’s sweet hooks are only featured twice; the rest of it is pure Jellee and his vocal acrobatics are pretty impressive. He commands a piece of everything popular. Looking back, it's a shame that "Money (Part 1)" was the only reason Thirteen went platinum. It's a double-shame that "Money (Part 1)" is on Wikipedia's list of Canadian one-hit wonders.

Jellestone gave different reasons for calling the album Thirteen. Once, he said the title alluded to Jesus and his 12 disciples. All of the album's Biblical themes, especially in "U R The New Messiah" and "Root of All Evil," aren't lost on me; I, too, owned Rule 3:36. Another time, Jelleestone said 13 was the number of years he'd been in the game (although I'm not sure the math adds up but okay). Unfortunately, 13 is an unlucky number and despite Jellee's 2002 Juno nominations for Best New Solo Artist and Best Rap Recording, and a shit-load of rotation on Much Music, the needle only dropped on "Money (Part 1)" for so long (i.e. not long at all). Warner Bros. restructured at this time and no one financed a second video.

After tours and a rush of cash money, with which Jellee was hopefully buying whatever he wanted, he was busted on some unsavoury gun charges. Nothing Jellee-related reappeared until 2005 and even then, without much national buzz. He later collaborated on tracks with Nelly Furtado and Esthero, and last year uploaded a disturbing but well-made, self-produced video for "Italian Ocean" on YouTube. In some ways, Jellee was the victim of a world without the Internet, boxed in by a label that was supposed to bring him freedom. With Warner holding publicity power, Jellee was unable to move Thirteen beyond TV and radio, mostly because that’s all there was. But there was always Rexdale, and Jellee always represented.

Adria Young is a writer in Halifax.