Steve 'Flash' JuonEvery now and then a review is unapologetically for me, and such is the case when I talk about Frank Nitt f/k/a Frank Nitty. I’ve known about Frank ever since he befriended the late J Dilla, and even though my residence in Eastern Michigan was relatively short, my affection for Detroit has lasted. In particular Dilla affiliates get love because I was sleeping on Jay Dee at the start, and by the time I was rocking a “J Dilla Changed My Life” shirt he was already gone. Even without him there in the physical essence, D’s influence is still felt on songs like “Psychedelic Freaky Girl” from “Jewels In My Backpack.”
Detroit rappers are often chameleonic in their ability to blend with other people — ably doing Miami bounce, Dirty South bars, or West Coast G-Funk. The late James Yancey was the same way when it came to production, able to match his sound to any rapper he worked with. The laid back strummed sound and hand clapping percussion are perfectly met by Nitt’s energetic delivery paying tribute to his favorite women. “Got a chef who be loving to cook that fried chicken/and she love it even more when I break her off in the kitchen.” It may be a little crass but it’s honest. It’s the D’s own version of Biggie’s “Dreams” but without any of the women being from R&B. Speaking of being a chameleon though just check out how Frank links up with DJ Quik for the G’d up “Love.”
“Can’t use Pro Tools to fix up our arrangements.” Having admitted my bias in the intro I can’t help but think Frank is underrated as an emcee. He always manages to spice up his bars with clever metaphors, similes and analogies. Be careful when you look up the two songs mentioned thus far online because due to poorly overseen uploads they often end up mislabeled or out of sequence. If you don’t hear Compton’s own Quiksta on the track you’re not getting “Love.” There’s one other thing on this album that threw me off looking for it online and that’s the song “Zoned Out.” Kurupt delivers a dope cameo and I had never imagined him linking up with Frank before this track — now I wish they’d do it more.
Terrace Martin produced this entire album, and I’d much rather hear from him than Terrance Howard (sorry couldn’t resist) so his cameo at the end of the song is welcomed. For me the only major downside of “Jewels In My Backpack” is that it’s relatively short. Appearances are deceiving because you’ll find it listed as 12 songs, but half of them are instrumental versions or radio edits of the other half. I won’t call it deceptive because between this review and Google you have all the opportunity to do your own research, but I won’t say it feels like a full Frank Nitt album either. I was left wanting more than I got here and that’s not such a bad thing.