Album Review – Jupitor Tha Enlightened One’s Thru My Mind: Act iii

June 14, 2022 — Leave a comment

This unique name may be a familiar face to some of you who have been reading Spice on the Beat for quite some time. The nomadic artist originally from Denver, Colorado, is back with his first full project, Thru My Mind: Act iii, and I’m excited to dive into it. Jupitor’s interesting sound tells the stories of all of the places he’s been, incorporating different features and genres into his music to embody his journies. You can check out the full project below:

The album begins with the title track, “Thru My Mind (Light Speed.” I love the thought-provoking, introspective production, truly serving as the perfect introduction. Jupitor’s vocal dynamics in his hook are a bit rocky for me personally, taking away from the serenity of the beat. However, about 1.15 in, he straightens things out for the second verse, only for it to slightly lose me again with the hook. I really enjoy the slight change in pace around 2.15, but he does slowly drag behind the beat. While I will always enjoy Jupitor’s dedication to his individuality, the quality of his recording does distract from that, with his lyrical performance and the production sounding like individual layers put together rather than mixed properly.

The second track of the album is titled “Slave Ships,” which is a bit bold, in my opinion. I understand the message and the point of the song, but I do worry that the title is a bit tone deaf. Furthermore, I love the production behind the track. It’s jazzy and soulful and interesting, but the song was fairly underwhelming until around the 2.20 mark. While Jupitor takes a very interesting approach to his lyricism, the repetition of “slave to the” throughout the track felt lazy. The song fades out with an outro using the children’s song, “Row Row Row Your Boat,” which completely took away from the gorgeous production for me. It was fascinating how drastically it changed the mood of the song, and I was definitely curious to see how Jupitor would transition this into the next track, but at the same time, it left me more puzzled than anything.

The hymn-like reiteration continues at the start of “3 Pyramids,” beginning the song on a haunting and fantastical note. The production picks up with a killer beat, proving that Jupitor definitely has a strong ear in that regard. I’ve mentioned this before, but I have no clue what Jupitor is talking about half the time, just because a lot of this subject matter is beyond anything I’ve ever really read up on. With that being said, his ability to connect themes and ideas is extremely intricate and captivating. The overarching theme of “3’s” is so enthralling as you listen out for all of the various ways he can incorporate it into what he’s rapping about. This is definitely a stand-out track for me.

I can’t lie, “Sheep & The Shepherd” lost me at first, mainly because of the mixing. When a song isn’t mixed properly, it can completely take away from the song, and unfortunately, that’s what happened for me. After about half a minute, the quality did improve significantly, but I think the song still dragged on for me a bit after the intensity of “3 Pyramids.” I think this album is lacking in dynamics. While every album doesn’t need to tell a story or have a conflict and resolution, especially since this is more of a mixtape, I do still wish some of the songs were formulated differently. Sometimes you need a fun song to offset the serious subject matter, or just something to showcase your versatility as an artist.

“The Secret Song” is around the halfway point of the album, and my biggest critique of the album is that it hasn’t shown me any sort of different layers to Jupitor. Instead, I get a very similar vibe to the singles he released, which isn’t a bad thing. It showcases his consistency. But there is such a thing as too much consistency. It’s important to have a project that’s cohesive and works well together, but at the same time, I should be able to recognize one song from another. I understand that Thru My Mind is just that, an extension of Jupitor’s thoughts and ideas, which is a beautiful theme. But I just need more. Something that shows me a different side to Jupitor. I want to see some risks being taken.

“The Seed of Life” has a gorgeous, vibey beat, and once again, Jupitor displays his ability to connect all of these different ideas to one central theme, which is very impressive. But I’m still waiting for something to take me by surprise. To shock me, and leave me in disbelief that this is the same artist.

“Lucifer’s Experiment” has another cool, hypnotic beat that’s a bit more upbeat. But I think they all feel hypnotic, because each beat feels so static, and Jupitor’s flow is the same on every song. It’s good, it’s not that it isn’t. But every song is starting to blend together and I’m still holding out on hope that Jupitor is going to do something crazy that is going to knock my socks off. Just wait for it.

My friend had actually just shown me the original track Jupitor used in “11:11,” so it was interesting to see the way he incorporated it into his song. I applaud the grasp of musicality, and it definitely is fitting for his whole aura. The subject-matter is just so heavy that by now in the album, the listener needs a bit of relief.

I felt so optimistic when “Warships” began, but the flow seemed to slow the whole song even further. While I sometimes really enjoy a lazy, effortless flow, this late into the album it almost sounds as though Jupitor is over it. The lyrics are of excitement and flash, and yet the delivery is just soooo lax.

To be completely honest, I wish the project ended on a different note than “3:16.” I think fading out the album on the slowest song is a bold move, and for me, this ended it in a very gloomy way. While I always appreciate seeing an artist’s vulnerability, I typically suggest moving that to the middle of the album, where it can be offset by something upbeat or faster-paced. I think moving this towards the beginning of the album and ending it with a song that’s instrumentally strong would have been memorable.

As I have mentioned before, I will always commend Jupitor for his dedication to sticking true to who he is. If there is one thing this album is, it’s a project stemmed from the mind of Jupitor tha Enlightened. There is no second-guessing that. With that being said, I would have loved to see more of Jupitor and who he is. It may just be because I don’t understand a lot of the themes and ideas, but the songs started to blend together into one long track rather than showing to me the different levels of Jupitor’s skills. I want to see him do more with his lyrical ability; I want to hear a story or what his crazy night out is like. I want to experience a drug trip and what it would be like for him, not introspectively, but physically, in that moment. I want to see humor and love and passion and angst. The production was hypnotic, but I need his lyrical delivery to be just as captivating if not more. And another way that needs to happen is through stronger mixing. A song that’s mixed and mastered properly with a mediocre performance will always sound better than an okay mixing and mastering with amazing lyrics, just because it sounds polished and professional. It shouldn’t sound like you’re listening to two individual pieces or like a rapper is just spitting over a beat. They should complement one another, and in order for that to happen, they need to blend effortlessly.

If you think I was being too harsh (it’s all out of love, I promise! I recognize potential and I want to see you all win♥), then please show Jupitor some love on his socials. You can follow him below:

Sponsored by Jupitor tha Enlightened.

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