No, that’s not a typo – I really did mean to separate the “pre” from the “view” in my blog title. Why? Because that’s how it goes in the title of the newest album from my favorite hip hop artist, t.Jay: “The Pre View”. And yes, this post’s subtitle is having the usual fun with subverting the original “HYSRT!” acronym – in this case because, Hey, You Should Listen To This!
Regular readers of my blog may remember T.J. “t.Jay” Pompeo from this post, when he was cool enough to let me interview him about his previous album, “Iris”. The man is at it again, writing more inspired music and offering it for free (yeah, you read that right: I said FREE) to any and all who’ve got a computer to download it with.
I just nabbed my own copy of the files, and I’m telling ya, some of these tracks have been getting some major play time with me. You know I dig a song when I can play it some ten times in a row and be excited that it’s starting again every single time. And it’s not just me enjoying these songs: I’ve got a character in my head who not only loves them, he was moved by them; encouraged by them; majorly blessed by them. And that’s exactly what t.Jay set out to do with this album. …well, maybe he’d been aiming more to touch technically real people, but as an artist (and therefore probably a little bit crazy, just by definition), I’m sure he wouldn’t cry boo at my character’s testimony. (Fictional people need the love of Christ, too.)
The album’s track list includes:
1- Fairytales
2- Tomorrow
3- If I Have to Wait
4- Buy Focals
5- Money Ain’t Everything
6- Make It Reign (I’d heard a preview of this song on YouTube, a while back, and was pleased that the full version made it onto this album. The chorus always makes me wanna bounce.)
7- Lens Crafter (My favorite track! Its happy little beat and lovely harmonies do joyful things to me. I am honest-to-goodness listening to this on loop as I post this.)
8- iShadow
9- Remember When— (Another one of my faves. It gets me right in my nostalgic side.)
10- Don’t Let Me Go
11- Far Sighted (This is the one that touched my character the most out of all of them. It was really relatable for him, and just what he had been needing to hear at the time it first reached my headphones. And then it was back to looping “Lens Crafter”, for joy for the both of us.)
12- Hourglass
13- Love – Acoustic Remix
So, in summary: The artist’s legit, the songs are sweet, and you can totally— no, should totally download the album, ‘cause it’s awesome and it’s FREE. And who knows, it might be just what you – or a friend, and/or someone in your head – need(s) to hear.
Ever On Word 