RJD2 Speaks 'Since We Last Spoke' album

The major labels are crumbling. Inane reality TV rules the airwaves. Your neighbour came home with SARS.

Teenage youth are better armed than the military. There will never, ever, be a new episode of "Friends". Odds are the world is about to enter another four years of Bush-brand terror. Not to worry, though. Rjd2 has a new album.

On his breakout solo debut, Deadringer, Rjd2 sent listeners on a musical foray into instrumentalism, feasting on styles both old and new, and in the process creating a sound that's emerging as one of the most interesting and exciting new voices in instrumental music. In a genre filled with ambient spacemen and droning echno fromage, Rjd2 brought a sense of song structure and vitality that was sorely missing, harkening back to a time when instrumental groups like Booker T. and the MG's got radio play (no joke).
And the accolades rolled in. From industry luminaries like Chris Blackwell, to Radiohead and The Strokes, to ?uestlove of The Roots, to DJ Shadow, Rj soon became a favourite of those in-the-know.

Dead Ringer was an incredible success globally, appearing on many a year-end list. In '03, he followed up the success of his debut with The Horror, an EP of B-sides that played closer to an entirely new album than a collection of leftovers, and cemented Rjd2 as one of music's most talked about new artists. Touring from Japan to Amsterdam, Rj caught wreck with a dizzying 4-turntable reconstruction/reconfiguring/reinterpretation of the album for fans world-wide, sharing the stage with the likes of DJ Shadow, El-P & the Def Jux crew, David Lynch, The Roots and Prefuse 73, amongst others.

While Rj soon became the name to drop in hipster circles, he made his bones in the underground, playing a major role in that mid-west power surge better know as Columbus hip hop. Over the past few years, Rj's profile as a producer has grown immensely as he's clocked time on the boards producing or remixing Mos Def, Massive Attack, Polyphonic Spree, Elbow, Cannibal Ox, and others, wielding a versatility rarely seen in music today. As one half of the duo Soul Position, he's the ultimate team player, taking a back seat to his MC, Blueprint, and letting him do the talking, while RJ's music keeps the heads nodding. Their 8 Million Stories LP was received in 2003 to rave reviews and continues to nod, and turn, heads.

2004 brings Since We Last Spoke, a more focused and cohesive effort than Dead Ringer, while still maintaining the vitality and soulfulness that made his debut so enjoyable. Like a modern day Quincy Jones in the abstract, RJ truly orchestrated his new record, creating a multitude of new songs from all angles, writing music and lyrics, arranging vocals and melodies, auditioning singers and even experimenting with a vocoder. He cut out any fat or filler, and in an industry virtually afloat on the concept of the guest appearance, the album features none (well, maybe one). It's strength instead lies in the meticulous programming, lush instrumentation and solid song arrangements. In many ways, an artist's sophomore album is when their true colours are shown (or exposed), and when their real career begins (or begins to end). In the words of Jimmy Castor, it's just begun.

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RJD2 Speaks - Since We Last Spoke