Jimi Zone

I didn’t know about this J-Zone release until very recently. It’s not really a mixtape or a mashup and it’s not a formal release either (so it’s not available from major retailers), therefore it’s kind of gone under the radar. "What is it then?", I hear  you asking.  Well, as J-Zone announces on the intro, he’s produced this LP to pay tribute to Jimi Hendrix whom he was a great fan of, and because it’s the closest he’ll ever get to working with him. We certainly can’t dispute that claim. But this isn’t a traditional tribute or remix album either (trust J-Zone to do something a bit different).

If you can imagine for a moment that Jimi is still alive and he calls J-Zone up one morning saying, ‘hey Zone, I need you to produce some tracks for my new album’, then this is possibly what J-Zone would have produced. It’s an instrumental album that fuses the funk and soul of Jimi Hendrix with the trademark production styles, infectious beats and zany samples that J-Zone has become so well known for. As an example of Zone’s wacky humour, there’s a bit where he and Jimi have a little conversation with each other, much like James Brown used to talk to his band.

It makes for an interesting blend of styles that actually works really well. It also reminds me a little of Dangermouse’s Grey Album (where he reworked Beatles records into hip hop beats for the Jiggaman). And just like the Grey Album, it strikes the balance of not sounding too much like a straight sample or loop of the original artist, but retains their unique sound.

https://hotfile.com/dl/178606867/e9420f5/J-Zone_-_Experienced.rar.html

And if you like this Jimi Hendrix and J-Zone LP, then you may also like this compilation from DJ Concept that is along similar lines and contains additional contributions from J-Zone.

http://execute1200.com/v2/2008/11/13/djconcept-a-tribute-to-experience-coming-soon/