Mike Jones: Who Is Mike Jones? : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Houston producer DJ Screw died five years ago, but the influence of his slo-mo beats and narcotized, chopped-up vocals still runs thick like Robitussin through his hometown's hip-hop scene. Thanks to the success of Screw's protege Lil Flip and rapper Mike Jones, Houston's idiosyncratic hip-hop now has a bigger national profile than ever. Who Is Mike Jones? is a fine introduction to this Texas mess. Jones -- who made his name on mix tapes from his SwishaHouse crew -- has that unpretentious appeal that sets him and many of his Southern brethren apart from rappers on either coast, with their airbrushed superhero muscles and major-label presidencies. Jones' top priorities on tracks like "Flossin' " are "sippin' drank" and "blowin' dank" over deep but easygoing 808-style beats. "Still Tippin' " is the killer single -- a lulling, glacially screwy collaboration between Jones, Slim Thug and Paul Wall. Endearing bonus: the song and big CD booklet photo devoted to Jones' late grandma, who came up with the album title.