
It's not my policy to run reviews here that have appeared elsewhere, but due to space constraints my LA Times review of Young Jeezy's "The Recession" got severely truncated. These are just the vagaries of the business but unfortunately, the published version tilts more polemic than actual review. Yes, the original draft is venomous, slightly strident and still probably 200 words too short. But it's sincere and maybe a necessary counterweight to the patently absurd, forced intellectualization that critics project onto Jeezy. [...]