Jake Miller - Us Against Them

Weston FL's Jake Miller has arrived on the scene with his full length debut release titled Us Against Them. The rapper has slowly been making a name for himself with his cutting edge rhymes featuring insightful lyrics that are devoid of the traditional stereotypes associated with other hip-hop artists, but his music has a pop sensibility to it that will carry him a long way in this business.

Things get off to a rousing start on "Collide" a thick, upbeat track featuring a colorful array of beats and electronically guided effects that make this song a good way to start off the album and sets the stage for what's about to come later on in the effort. "Hollywood" is a party friendly track featuring standard issue rhyming schemes and Jake's insightful lyrical wisdom being the strong suit here as it represents a different blend of hip-hop that is vastly different from what we're accustomed to. "High Life" features the musical stylings of Jeremy Thurber, and features some neat acoustic guitar melodies that blend in together quite nicely with the beats and music images it instills in us after we're finished listening to the track. My favorite song off the album is the stripped down "Homeless", an intensely personal track about living without a roof over your head, and Jake completely hits it out of the park here and with this song reveals different facets of his personality and his musical mission coming to fruition on this well composed and musically deep track heard here.

The second half gets underway with "Carry On" a eclectic, uptempo track featuring an assortment of mid tempo beats that lean in a more pop direction this time around, and there is nothing wrong with that. "A Million Lives" touches on youth issues that are plaguing today's youth, from bullying to suicide attempts, this song deals with societal problems head on and puts a positive spin on all of it that makes their problems instantly disappear within the sound of his voice. The disc begins to conclude on "Puppet", a more darker and complex tune that deals with the squabbles that usually plague a musician and big wigs at major record labels who think they know what sells albums these days. The album concludes on "Number One Rule" a high velocity, breezy tune with Jake's lyrical skills once again providing ample opportunity for him to take center stage and shine among all the other similarly accentuated artists currently out there today. It's quite refreshing to hear a different breed of hip-hop that is slowly becoming extant right now as we speak. Other artists like Macklemore are ushering in an idea of social change and positivity that takes away the negative connotations that are traditionally associated with hip-hop, and puts pressing social issues into the forefront, whether it be bullying, gay marriage, or insecurities. Jake Miller has the passion, drive, and enthusiasm to have a positive impact on today's youth, and that's pretty much the main goal of any musician, regardless of genre.

Overall, a terrific and intriguing effort from Jake Miller, who is starting to make a name of himself in the rap game with his strong lyrical abilities that put him in a different class among all the others that will allow him to go the distance in this game.

                                                                                                                             Album Score: 3.5/5

Track Listing:

1. Collide
2. Hollywood
3. Me and You
4. High Life (f/ Jeremy Thurber)
5. My Couch
6. Homeless
7. Carry On
8. Heaven
9. A Million Lives
10. Puppet
11. Number One Rule