Album Review: JJ Doom - Key To The Kuffs

Of course, any DOOM collaboration will always face a comparison to 2004's exquisite Madvillainy, the masked man's magnificent collaboration with Madlib. Other neat moments have cropped up since but all have found themselves in the shadow of DOOM's best work with the producer with whom he seems most suited. Key To The Kuffs faces a near impossible task then before it even begins: is it the release that sees DOOM return to his highest peak, or is this another entry in a growing list of gentle disappointments?

Spoiler: it's the latter. It's no fault of Jneiro Jarel. Under the moniker Dr Who Dat? he's been impressing sneaker-gazing rap fans for near a decade now. 2006's Beat Journey is one of the most impressive instrumental hip hop albums we've ever heard. Here, he is near his best. Gov'nor is an exquisite backdrop, Rhymin' Slang is an emcee's wet dream and Bout The Shoes is frenetic and paranoid. JJ holds up his side of the deal with aplomb. No, the villain here (sorry) is DOOM.

DOOM on Gov'nor uses a phrase few would have expected from the man who's modelled a career on comic books and cartoon sound bites: “As the dollar continues to lose momentum,” DOOM begins, before drifting into a clumsy – though mercifully brief – digression about finance and business. Banished sees DOOM having a crack at rapping fast – he fails. Frustratingly, he fails by not making an earnest attempt. That's true of most of his performances here. It's not 'not taking things seriously' that is the problem. It's the attitude behind it.

This is the album of a man who sends masked impostors to concerts to perform in his place. This is the album of a man who seems destined never to reach the greatness for which he once seemed destined. Spare a thought for JJ.