Peep game. For over ten years, Consequence has ran in all of the right circles, been cosigned by legendary artists, but has yet to become a hip-hop household name. Cousin to Q-Tip, he made his first appearance as the “new member” of A Tribe Called Quest, appearing all over the Beats, Rhymes, and Life LP, which also at the time, spotlighted another new artist, J. Dilla. While much of the production was handled by Dilla (as 1/3 of The Ummah), unfortunately people began to see this LP as the beginning of the end for Tribe. Cons later cut his teeth as a solo artist with a short-lived Elektra deal, which again found him in the company of Q-Tip and Dilla (not to mention Havoc and Busta), but the album was shelved. Now, under the watchful eye of another super-producer, Kanye West, Dilla gets his second childhood with Don’t Quit Your Day Job.

    Given his history, one can pretty much surmise why his album carries that title, as the Queens native has seen his share of industry drama, more or less forcing him to keep a nine-to-five as well. Like Kanye as The College Dropout or Rhymefest as rocking a Blue Collar, again, Consequence is presented as the underdog on his LP. The running theme of the album is Cons tries to balance his life as an artist and that of an average joe, while his mother disapproves in the background.

    The album begins with the simply titled, “Job Song”, which sets up the record, as Cons rocks a classic portion of Bob James’ “Nautilus”, mixed to crisp perfection by producer Kool Aid. “Don’t Forget ‘Em” follows, a Kanye production that channels early Hiero in it’s approach to song-structure, as Cons dreams of blowing up and spreading the wealth to those around him. Kanye appears again on “The Good, The Bad, The Ugly”, as producer and emcee, as the two toy with words in the song’s title, over a classic chipmunked Al Green sample. Originally to be included on The College Dropout, the now classic lost track finds refuge here.

    Another leftover that finds a home on Don’t Quit Your Day Job is “Grammy Family”, the heavy G.O.O.D. Music posse cut from DJ Khaled’s LP, which features each Cons, Kanye, and John Legend. Legend also appears on “Feel This Way”, which actually finds the piano-playing singer trading raps with Consequence, over a smoothed out track. “Pretty Little Sexy Mama” another attempt to go for the ladies, finds Cons lightly singing and rhyming over Neptunes-esque percussions. “Callin’ Me” is the best female song however, as producer Younglord lends cracking, up-tempo b-boy funk loop, while Cons breaks down his girl problems.

    Cons has a series of head-nodders here (“Uptown” and “Night Night” shouldn’t be forgotten), and overall has a pretty solid LP on his hands. However after a few classic LP’s from Kanye West and John Legend, one would expect Cons to follow suit. Instead, Don’t Quit Your Day Job is the equivalent to say, a (good) Method Man LP. Doesn’t quite pack the punch of a Raekwon or Ghost record, but still has its moments in between.