J Hood, Da 2nd Komin

By now, everyone knows J Hood is no longer with D-Block. But the Yonkers native still has plenty of bars for the block. That’s evident with his Da 2nd Komin mixtape hosted by DJ J Boogie. The 22-track offering has Hood jacking beats and spitting hard street rhymes over both original and popular instrumentals such as DJ Khaled’s “I’m On One,” Frank Ocean’s “Novacane,” Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “Otis,” Uncle Murda’s “Warning” and J. Cole’s “Work Out” (which he cleverly flips to “Merk Out”).

J Hood sets off the mixtape with “Go Get It”—over Ace Hood’s instrumental of a similar title—on which he brashly declares, “My style’s always been amazing, I just had to critique it/Your favorite rapper decent/I’m on another plateau, all I spit about is bread, nigga, that’s a cash flow.” Later, on “Dealin Wit,” Hood warns, “My shooter aim so good, he could shoot a napkin off your head (That’s my word).”

In many ways, J Hood is spitting the same kind of hardened gutter lyrics that he was known for as a member of D-Block alongside Jadakiss, Sheek Louch and Styles P. Except now, as he’s been doing for the past few years, he’s standing on his own two feet. Although the mixtape drags on a bit with 22 tracks, J Hood’s strategy was to flood listeners and get them reacquainted with him, and he was able to do that. With this compilation, he proves that he still has something to offer. Whether listeners will give him their ears, remains to be seen. —Mark Lelinwalla