Jaq is a German producer who came to my attention earlier this year due to his work on Kristoff Krane’s excellent solo album, fanfaronade. As it turns out, Jaq put out his own full length record this year, a collection of collaborations with a wide variety of emcees. Jaq is a member of Scribbling Idiots, an international collection of producers and emcees, many of whom are featured on this album. If you’re like me and new to Jaq and the whole Scribbling Idiots crew, I’m sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Jaq isn’t reinventing the wheel as a producer, but he is very talented and keeps it varied and interesting. As Kristoff Krane described him, “It’s traditional-type sounding beats, with a little edge, a little more eclectic…up the alley of Blockhead or Jel-type beats.” Most importantly, Jaq is a very versatile producer, and he’s especially great at pairing the right beat with the right emcee. The album doesn’t come together perfectly as a whole, which is always the risk when putting together a collaboration/compilation-style record, but Escape From Radio Prison doesn’t have an individual song that I could point to and say it didn’t work well. The album features fellow Scribbling Idiots Cas Metah, JustMe, Mouth Warren, Ruffian, Theory Hazit, and Wonder Brown, along with a grab bag of other emcees that include Homeboy Sandman, Kristoff Krane, Dizzy Dustin from Ugly Duckling, Manchild of Mars ILL, and Sev Statik. There are moments of introspection and personal reflection, where Jaq emplys subtle production that lets the lyrics shine. There are also moments of loud fun, such as “Hear This,” with Homeboy Sandman and Chris Sosa. A great boom bap beat, funky guitar lick, and Hammond organ set the stage for some great braggadocio rhymes, where it’s clear that Sandman and Sosa are having a great time. If you’re looking for the single to pump this summer, this one’s got the potential. “Holster,” with JustMe and DJ Promote incorporates some ‘70s film score instrumentation with some really heavy drums to create the most aggressive track on the album. “Mental Giant” with Dizzy Dustin actually sounds like it could be at home on an Ugly Duckling album. “The Road,” with Kristoff Krane has a great sing-along chorus and warm feeling that seems to channel The Band. I imagine that this song has great potential as a closing number when performed live.

While the nature of the album makes it feel a bit more like a compilation than a cohesive album, there is a lot to like here. The real success of Escape From Radio Prison is that not only will the spotlight shine on Jaq’s production skills, but so many emcees with different styles got a chance to showcase their talents as well.