His Name Is RobZ

Before the reign of Soulja Boy Tell’em, the rapper that people either classified as “annoying” or “genius”, was Mike Jones.  Remember that (at the time) revolutionary marketing idea?  He dropped his real phone number in verses all the time – 281-330-8004.  Or the required “Who?” after anyone said his name?

In all seriousness though, I wish Mike Jones was still around and making music.  His music was repetitive and not very deep, but some of his songs were pretty catchy.  “Still Tippin” was the first hit that featured Slim Thug and Paul Wall.

That song had me hooked on the screwed & chopped style in high school.  But the song that still puts a smile on my face is “Back Then”.  I think the message is particularly enjoyable for anyone who has ever accomplished something that everyone else said they couldn’t do.  In Mike Jones’ world, this was making it with his music.  When he started out, he gave demos out to everyone and plenty of people (as depicted in the music video), threw them out.  And as most musicians experience, when they do make it big, all of a sudden everyone is your best friend (….now they all on me).

There were a few other good songs from his debut album (Turning Lane, Laws Patrolling, What Ya Know About) but sadly, he hasn’t had much out since then.  He had “Drop and Gimme 50″ with Hurricane Chris and “Badd” with the Ying-Yang Twins, but in a world dominated lately by Wayne and Jay, I wouldn’t mind seeing a revival of Mike Jones.

If Rick Ross can do it with “Deeper Than Rap”, I’ve still got faith in Mike Jones.  Who?